Savoir Faire
by Aquileia
Summary: In a world where a malevolent king rules the land, there are small organizations of rebels scattered across the globe who—with the aid of dragons—are trying to end his rule. When disaster strikes the hidden Savoir Faire Academy, Leaf Green, a dragon rider-in-training, teams up with her much-hated partner and her best friend to end this madness...once and for all. ORS/LGS CS
1. Chapter 1

Savoir faire**.** _[__sav__-wahr-__fair__;__Fr.__s__a__-vw__ar__-__fe__r__] n. knowledge of just what to do in any situation,_ _the instinctive ability to know how to deal with any situation that arises; tact. Origin: 1805 – 15; French: literally, knowing what to do. Synonyms: adaptability, adroitness, discernment, skill, ability._

* * *

A soft, gentle breeze smelling faintly of hydrangea and lemongrass caressed a girl's cheek and forced a few strands of her hazel hair to dance in the wind. The girl yawned. She shifted her position from lying on her stomach and playing with the surrounding grass onto her back, where her hands were laced behind her head and one of her legs was casually bent as the other relaxed straight on the ground.

A few dozen yards in front of her was the edge of the cliff that she rested on, one undoubtedly a fatal drop. A short distance behind her, the mountain ascended again. The day was nice – hardly considered warm, but certainly better than the frigid weather usually was at this time of year. Gray clouds dominated all of the heavens above, and there was hardly even a patch of cerulean sky.

Peacefully, she shut her eyes. The brunette reveled in the quiet, because she knew it wouldn't last for long.

Inside the protected, closed campus, there were small fields and gardens where students were free to roam, but she had never been satisfied with those cramped places. Too many people, not enough space. Plus, she couldn't see the sea in there. She could see it out here over the cliff, though. The water, sky, and horizon were all beautifully limitless and vast. It was a shame though, that technically, the academy didn't allow its students outside its enchanted, stone walls. In this world, that was jeopardy.

The girl had discovered over the years that that statement was more of a strict rule that grew more lax the older you got and the more trustworthy you appeared to be to the professors. If the headmaster ever caught you, though, what with his phenomenal memory and cryptic intelligence…

He was a funny man, he was. There was a possibility that Headmaster Dippet was the queerest man the girl had ever met in her sixteen years of life. Eccentric? Perhaps. Wise? Definitely. Sane? Well… Really, who in their right mind would've essentially hinted that they were alright with a fourteen-year-old girl sneaking out of the academy building? As long as nobody caught her?

Well, of course, it was for the students' own safety, too - what with the war and such going on. The King held too many cards in his hand and prohibited anyone else from drawing others. Even in his prime, Headmaster Dippet couldn't have taken the King on. All the headmaster could do was open up a secret academy on the other side of the world from the King's base, in hopes of teaching young, energetic, future rebel Riders, who, hopefully, would someday overthrow the dictator.

The brunette sighed, wondering if there was ever going to be a day when all of it was going to be over. When the world would, once again, be safe and right. Since the King had seized power, the entire planet belonged in the palm of his dark, sinister hand. And despite the countless attempts, no one could overthrow his rule.

With her eyes still shut, the brunette relaxed her entire being into the grass beneath her. Perhaps she was dirtying her uniform, but she didn't mind much. For this time of year, the ensemble just consisted of a black skirt, "suitable footwear", and a thin (albeit flatteringly fitted), knitted gray sweater with a plunging v-neck that revealed a white, collared shirt and silk tie underneath. Her tie, in particular, was a warm shade of cerise - and it effectively reflected the fact that her dragon was a Psychic.

She smiled softly. Her dragon. Lithium.

Perhaps it was a bit strange that her dragon would've been named _Lithium_, of all things. (After all, a substance directly from the periodic table of elements?) In the years, she had certainly received a few mocking comments. But she had brushed them all off, because what they said didn't matter. All that mattered was that, at the time, her baby dragon had thought Lithium was a good name, and she had thought so too. And really - nobody even had any say in the naming process except for the gods themselves, bless them.

Lithium was a stunningly beautiful and majestic silver-scaled beast. Sometimes, people would comment on how the dragon's face was actually rather cute. Lithium's muzzle wasn't large or particularly small, but it was angled in all the right places and that resulted in a rather attractive female dragon. The rest of Lithium's large body curved softly. Her scales shimmered whenever she moved. Her tail was long and thin, and her wings were powerful and majestic and beautiful.

There were seventeen (_known_, as the researchers would enthusiastically point out every time, because there were very likely more undiscovered ones) types of dragons, and for the most part, each type has their own unique ability special to only them. Fire dragons breathed particularly scorching flames, and some could even envelop their entire bodies in fire without harm. Dragons categorized as Flying were particularly swift and agile, especially in the air. Steels had phenomenal natural armor, and could repel even the most scalding of temperatures. The list went on.

Psychics like Lithium were particularly good at developing powerful bonds with their Riders through telepathy, and with practice, can take advantage of a mindnumbingly powerful set of psychic abilities. From hatching, with a bit of focus, they are able to levitate small objects. As an adult, they can eradicate the same said small object from existence with no more than a simple thought.

At the academy, the students were introduced to their dragons at a young age. Thus, the bonds would develop quickly and would end up the strongest they could be. Personalities would quickly adapt and, usually, even grow to resemble each other quite a bit. In the brunette's case, that process had been quick and painless. To some extent, all dragons and Riders had the power of telepathic communication, but telepathy between Psychic dragons and their Riders always came much easier. The students had a total of seven years at the academy - from the ages of ten through seventeen - before they were officially graduated as adults.

The girl laid there for a few minutes and was comfortably drifting asleep when a sudden shout stirred her from her dreamy daze.

"Leaf!" a voice hollered.

She cringed. And there went the peace and quiet.

"I'm down here, May!" she called back, sitting up. Might as well, she decided. _May's going to drag my butt up there, anyways. That, or send Alkali to roast me alive... and then drag my butt up there._

Leaf's sharp brown eyes watched May as she expertly slid down the side of the steep slope, eventually landing on Leaf's flat, grassy plain-cliff.

May Maple was, obviously, another attendee of the academy. She was in the same year as Leaf, and the two had been close friends since the start of their first year. The color of her locks certainly resembled Leaf's, and yet her hairstyle certainly did _not_. The girl often bore a fashionable red bandanna on top of her head, and her hair softly stuck out from the sides of her head by a force which denied gravity (as well as Leaf's comprehension). She donned the exact same uniform as Leaf, with the exception of her tie. May's dragon – Alkali – was a Fire, and thus, the girl's tie was crimson and she lived in the Scorched Plains dorm. Luckily, Leaf's dorm – Aged Chamber – was right next to Scorched Plains, which made many of the duo's nighttime escapades possible.

A somewhat cross, exasperated expression was planted on May's face right now.

"Leaf," she scolded gently. "What are you doing out here? You _know _today's important."

Leaf scowled. "It's stupid. The two of us won't be paired up together or anything, and I don't like working with guys. I'd rather do missions alone."

"Leaf Green," she began, placing her hands on her hips, and shifting her weight onto one foot sassily. "You _will_ come with me _right now_, whether you like it or not."

"Or what, Mother?" mocked Leaf.

"Well, Alkali's been working on her firebreathing accuracy a lot, lately…"

"Well, I mean, Lithium's still a nerd… "

_I heard that, human_, came a growling voice in Leaf's mind.

_I love you too, Lith_, responded Leaf. _'Sides, being nerdy – a.k.a. smart – is a good thing. Psychic types are all mind over matter, right?_

_ Perhaps it wouldn't be such a terrible idea for you to receive some of these "mind-over-matter"s yourself…_

May chuckled, "She's a beautiful dragon, if that's what you're saying."

"Of course," said Leaf, grinning. _Heard that, Lith? Geez. And no thanks. Where are you, by the way?_

"So are you going to come in or not?" demanded May. "Leaf, let's _not_ be late for this. Please? Missions are the first time we actually get to do things outside of school… that _we have permission to do so_," she said, emphasizing the latter part when she noticed Leaf about to open her mouth in protest. Probably to input something about how they already sneak off campus every now and then anyways.

_The cove about a mile directly beneath you, love. There's excellent fish leaping around here today…_

Leaf grumbled something about "just because of a chance to pair up with a certain grass head" before reluctantly standing up, dusting herself off, and trudging over to May's side.

_How are they?_

Lithium sent Leaf a fleeting sense of the slick scales sliding down Lithium's throat, the fresh, delicious scent, the way the fools were all happily leaping so high out of the water...

_That seems delicious, but I'll stick to filets. Excuse me as I try to get rid of the enlightening sensation of swallowing a raw fish whole down my throat._

May's eyes softened when she saw that Leaf was actually abiding by her wishes and had agreed to come with her. The girl grinned. "Oh, _stop it_, Leaf," she said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. "You're being dramatic. It won't be that bad. It'll even be fun!"

Under her breath, Leaf muttered something else about "jerk of an olive brain".

"Hm? What'd you say?"

"Nothing." Leaf grinned. "Nothing, May. Don't worry about it."

* * *

With a few skillful maneuvers and dexterity unmatched by most of the other students in their grade, Leaf and May cleared the academy's protective physical walls and invisible magical barriers. The latter really weren't much of a fight, though – those were constructed so that they, very carefully, only let registered students, faculty, and their dragons through. If the magic sensed that the intruder had malicious intentions, a series of spells would lunge for the intruder's figurative throat, disable them, and put the entire campus on high alert. The academy was located at a very unforgiving location – halfway up the side of a mountain, in fact. Sometimes, the occasional unlucky traveler would accidentally stumble upon the place. More importantly, though, the barriers had never been forcibly bypassed.

The entire academy was protected by an illusionary image of what appeared to be just another natural bulge in Mount Ephinarious. When touched, the outermost barrier looked and felt like mountain. This effectively protected the academy from all who would've accidentally stumbled upon its location, although the said stumbler would never have noticed.

The two girls quietly landed in the Main Garden, and casually began making their way into the building.

"I'm serious, Leaf! You have _got_ to stop sneaking out alone like that… What if something terrible happens to you? _Plus_, it forces me to come after you," complained May.

Leaf rolled her eyes. May, the ever-worried brunette (who, ironically, still liked to defy some school rules every now and then with Leaf, as long as they didn't get caught). Her heart was always in the right place, though.

"That's your problem," retorted Leaf. "Besides, I've always got Lith within a quarter mile of me."

"That's not the point!"

"Calm it, May," said Leaf, laughing. "I'm not going to get hurt. People can't find us up here, anyways._ Bugs _don't even live here."

May's eyes narrowed. "But dragons can. And I'm sure the… _King_," she spat. "…can too."

The two had now officially entered the castle-like stone walls of the academy. They walked the length of a short, dimly lit hallway to the lobby, and from there, descended a flight of stairs to the Auditorium. That particular eloquent room was where the school's ceremonies, important announcements, and other certain special events took place.

"He doesn't care about this area. Nobody even lives around here. His closest grunts are probably, what, at least a hundred miles away from here at any given moment?"

"Leaf…" sighed May exasperatedly, although she didn't push that particular point of the matter further. "What about class? You were cutting," she accused.

"It's not my fault music was so hilariously boring today," said Leaf, shrugging. "Imperfect cadences_,_ May. _Imperfect. Cadences._"

"Obviously, I take music, not art, and I know what those are," replied May, sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Alright, well, _still_, May-"

But Leaf was interrupted by a sudden newcomer, who had appeared behind them and greeted in a low, smooth voice, "Hey."

Neither Leaf nor May particularly took the time to slow down, so they simply turned their heads around to see who it was. Upon his identification, Leaf blatantly scowled.

May smiled and responded, "Hey, Gary."

Gary was another sixth year, like Leaf and May. He was known as one of the heartthrobs throughout the school, and had the looks to back it up. Every now and then, his eyes shifted between deep viridian and smooth grey, but smoldered either way. In a forward motion, his auburn hair swept from the back, and the style gave his locks the impression of being spiky. His facial proportions were... well, _attractively proportioned_. He wore the male version of the uniform, which was essentially the same outfit as the female, with the exception of a pair of black slacks instead of a skirt. His tie was black, indicating that his dragon was a Dark type, and that Gary himself spent his nights in Darkness Ridge.

Leaf said nothing. Her only response was an increase in the speed of her gait.

"Green," drawled Gary. A smirk was etched on his lips. Leaf could've sworn his mouth was permanently paralyzed in the cocky sneer. "How're you feeling?"

Leaf twitched. Surely, this was an attempt to somehow mess with her.

"What?" she asked curtly.

"You told Professor Marisol you didn't feel well," he said. "Of course, my personal guess is that you skipped class to play around outside with your weak little dragon again."

Leaf abruptly stopped walking, and whirled furiously on Gary. He was a head taller than her, but her narrowed eyes stared defiantly into his, anger burning hotter than an adult Fire dragon's heart in hers. She clenched her teeth. May had stopped walking as well, and watched the two warily. Leaf's tongue was ready to lash at him with a dozen different insults and curses. She could put up with his cocky taunting, shots to her personal pride, but this was a first. Her eyes narrowed threateningly.

"_Gary Oak_," she seethed through clenched teeth. "Did _you_… just… _insult_… my _dragon_?" she hissed menacingly, poison seeping from her every syllable.

If he had said something about _her _personally again, she would've taken it in stride and eventually forgotten it. This, however… this was Lithium. What reason did he even _have_ to put down _Lithium_? The mere fact that she was Leaf's dragon could in _no way _be a sufficient reason.

The brunet seemed a bit intimidated by the unmasked fury that was overtaking Leaf's very being. The smirk was beginning to melt off his face as he grasped how truly angered the girl really was.

_ Leaf, stop. He's not worth it, _she heard Lithium insist.

_Don't tell me that _now_, Lith. It's too late. The bastard's had it coming for a long time, anyways…_

And with that, Leaf Green punched Gary Oak in the face.

* * *

As she and May made their way into the Auditorium, Leaf was still fuming over Gary's insult to Lithium. However, she felt much better after she felt his face under her knuckle. After the punch, she had walked away, leaving a shocked Gary Oak behind. May had stayed with the boy for a more few moments, presumably to ask Gary if he was okay, and apologizing on Leaf's behalf (not that Leaf had wanted her to. She had no intention of ever apologizing to Gary for that). The brunette had then quickly caught up to Leaf, and proceeded to gape at her in astonishment.

"He had it coming, May," was all Leaf said to defend her actions.

The two bid each other "see you later" before splitting up to get to their seats, which were alphabetically organized and forced the girls to sit at opposite ends of the room.

The Auditorium was a rather grand place. Today, rows and rows of comfy black seats faced the focal point, the stage. When unnecessary, though, the seats could be moved, and thus would reveal a spacious floor. The walls were intricately painted with gold and silver designs against a dark backdrop, and the ground was laid with gray marble.

As the minutes passed, more and more sixth years began entering the Auditorium. Eventually, all fifty waiting chairs came to be occupied. Conversations and laughter filled the Auditorium. Leaf soon found herself enthusiastically engaged in conversation with Ash Ketchum, another sixth year whose seat was diagonally behind hers. He was a bubbly, confident personality with loyalty and kindness to match. He had jet black hair that was often hidden under a cap, and his brown eyes always sparkled with happy warmth. His tie was colored a light lavender, indicating that he had a Flying dragon. And he did – Mosh, an agile gray reptile with an appetite and naivety as prominent as his Rider's.

A hush quickly overtook every student when the general lights suddenly dimmed and the headmaster stepped onto the stage, flanked by a few professors that Leaf recognized. Their arrival was greeted with a scatter of polite applause by the students.

All of the present faculty watched and smiled kindly at the antsy teenagers. Leaf, however, slouched unimpressed in her seat. She really didn't care for all of this. She just wanted it to be over.

"Good afternoon, sixth year," said Professor Dippet, a kind, crooked smile curving his lips. "I trust that most - if not all - of you know what we are gathered here today for."

Whoops and cheers and "aw _yeah_!"s rose from the students.

The professors chuckled lightly. "For the few that may be in the dark, I will elaborate," said Professor Dippet. "As I'm sure all of us in this building are aware, the world is currently caught in the midst of a struggle between itself and the man who wishes to singlehandedly rule it with a dark, sinister hand. Vesuvius."

A deathly silence fell over the entire room as the name was spoken.

"He is half the reason as to why this academy exists. The other half is to teach you to bond and connect with your dragons, your surroundings, and yourselves in ways you may never have imagined before.

"We are one month into the new year and the new semester. You all have already gotten a taste of what sixth year combat and studies will require. At this point, as many of you know, is when you will begin executing missions.

"In this war and personal resistance against Vesuvius, we must all pool our energy and resources to selflessly help each other and our community. This academy can not get by without the help of our sixth and seventh years, and the conducting of these missions. They are imperative for the survival of this academy, and in turn, our part of the resistance against Vesuvius.

"These missions are not to be taken lightly. All of them will require you to leave academy grounds, and quite a few may require you to go places so far that, should something fatal occur, there is a chance that neither myself nor the teachers may reach you in time. Such is the nature of war. In your time here, a few of you may be asked to accomplish tasks that may put your very life at risk. In these missions, you will have an option whether or not to refuse.

"To aid you in your missions, you will be assigned a partner. Your partner will be a person whom myself and your professors have concurred to be a worthy complement to you and your personal abilities and attributes. Your partner will be of the opposite gender as you. This is to encourage the two of you to pool your strengths and cover up each others' weaknesses, such that personal or biological limitations do not hold you back. Your partner's dragon's type will also be different from yours, perhaps vastly so. This is for much the same reason as the opposite gender rule. As far as your partnerships, your dragons have also been taken into consideration. You and your partner will be expected to cooperate and work efficiently together to the best of your ability. There will be no partner swaps or changes to our decisions. The partnerships are final. Please do not disappoint us, or your peers.

"I, as well as your other teachers, will decide which missions and what degree of difficulty you can handle. You will always have the option of declining a mission - we can not force anything upon you. However, please know that these missions are more important than you may think. Therefore, please treat each refusal with much consideration and thought. Unless otherwise stated, you will always have three days' advance notice until the commencement of your mission.

"These missions will range from gathering nearby water and food to infiltrating Vesuvius's inner systems. Be aware that these missions may either last for an hour to, possibly, months. Be aware that these missions may either take place a few steps outside the academy walls, or on the other side of the world.

"One last thing before we begin the announcement of the partnerships - as you may or may not be aware… all partnerships are connected by a special object." The headmaster then accepted a felt pillow from one of the aging professors next to him, on which there was a necklace. It consisted of a simple silver chain and pendant. The pendant appeared to be a small, smooth, white stone set against a silver ring. "Each pendant of each pair - as you and your partner will receive today - both hold the essences of you and your partner's dragon inside. The essences of your dragons also contain a sliver of the physical bonds and contracts that were promised between you and your dragon. To put it simply, by your dragons, you and your partner are now bonded in a similar way to the way you are bonded with your dragon." He chuckled at the expressions on some students' faces. "Only not nearly as strongly," he elaborated.

"These are to protect you. On a mission, their purpose is to tell you whether your partner is near or far. They will tell you whether your partner is fine or wounded. They will tell you whether your partner is on the brink of death, or already gone.

"And with that... I will announce each partnership. When you hear your name called, please come to the stage. Once you have received your pendants, return to your seats."

Leaf could practically feel the anticipation in the room. As silent as it was, the air was still buzzing with excitement. However, she wasn't quite as excited herself. Perhaps she would be, if they gave her a mission to infiltrate the King's ranks.

The first pair was announced. An Abernathy Jerome and Mariella Niseria - two people whom Leaf recognized. After all, after having spent five years with the same fifty people, it didn't take a genius to at least know all their names.

The second pair was announced. Then a third. And a fourth. Eventually, Leaf found herself dozing off a bit, her mind wandering...

…until it was snapped back to reality by the startling calling of her name.

"Leaf Green."

Standing up with a jolt, she hurriedly made her way down the length of the auditorium and clambered up onto the stage, smiling sheepishly. She stood there for a moment, facing the audience. Her friends and classmates watched her and the professors next to her, curious to know who the grade's rebel's partner was going to be. Despite not having been particularly excited for this whole thing, Leaf was now a bit nervous and, yes, excited to know who her partner might be.

_It might be fun if it's Ash or someone. I wouldn't even mind, say, Paul. _Then she paused, a thought having struck her. She quickly asked Lithium, _Hey Lith, how'd they even get your essence, anyways?_

_ From the spit on the guy who they sent to get my essence's face._

_That's my girl. Hey, do you know who your essence got mixed with?_

_ Er... I have an idea_, was the immediate response.

_ Who?_

A pause. Then, ..._You'll see._

The telepathic conversation took place within the span of one brief moment; such was the efficiency of Leaf and Lithium's communication.

_Huh?_

Lithium didn't respond.

Leaf furrowed her brow slightly. Who did Lithium think her partner was going to be? And why was she being so mysterious about it? It was a bit concerning, actually. Lithium never held anything back from Leaf, not unless it hurt her. And even then…

When she noticed Professor Dippet's mouth open once again, Leaf began releasing a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Then the next two words that came out of the man's mouth forced that breath to stop right in its exhaling tracks.

"Gary Oak."

* * *

Hi, it's Apheleia. :)

So, here's the basic rundown:  
Looks like I'll be taking the odd-numbered chapters and AquaStarlight will be writing the even-numbered chapters. (Much) more likely than not, we'll update every weekend. If you can't tell already, it's going to be a (really epic) story about dragons, rebellion, adventure, action, and romance, so... If you liked this chapter, stick around, because there is much more (and better) to come. ;)

Thank you for reading, and we'd love to hear your opinion in a review. :)

-Apheleia


	2. Chapter 2

**Reviews (written by Apheleia):**

PyschicSabrina - Thanks so much! And yeah, it's a little, loosely-based on well-loved fantasy books that are in print. Well... we'll assume Alkali gets a little mocking, too. xD At the time, Lithium only had a vague idea, but didn't want to get ahead of anything, so she kept it to herself until it was positive. And even if she DID have a good idea of who it was, she probably would've just kept quiet just for the sake of watching Leaf's unadulterated reaction, haha. And yup! That's where Dippet came from. You're good. ;) That's alright, thank you for your lengthy review! x)

Guest - Thank you so much! Actually, when we were discussing the plot, the Inheritance Cycle did come up as one of our loosely-based inspirations. It'll definitely be very different, though - Christopher Paolini wrote a few hundred thousand words too many for us to be able to draw directly from his plots. xD

* * *

_Chapter 2_

"Leaf, open the door." The persistent knocking continued, showing no signs of letting up anytime soon. Leaf groaned into her pillow and pulled the blankets all the way over her head, trying to block out the repetitive banging against her door. She cursed the day her dorm mates told May she was always welcome inside their dorm.

_You can't hide in your room forever, you know._

_Yes I can, _Leaf bit back, unwillingly opening her eyes and throwing the blanket off of her. Despite having said that she still clambered out of bed and dragged herself over to the door; unlocking it as the knocking continued and swinging it open, leaving May to nearly face-plant when her fist was met with empty air.

"Finally," she complained as she caught herself from falling before entering the room and jumping onto Leaf's bed. She lied down and stuck her hands behind her head in a relaxed position while her friend closed the door before proceeding to join her.

"I don't see why you had to go and make a big deal out of this," May said as Leaf sat down on the edge of the bed and crossed her legs. Her cerise tie was missing from her uniform; carelessly thrown over the bed frame. "I mean, how bad can it be – having Gary as a partner?"

"How _bad_ can it be?" Leaf stressed, staring at her friend as if she had just told her cancer was a good thing. "May, he's a player. And an idiot. And annoying. Have you _seen_ how he flirts with every girl he sees? For Arceus' sake, even his _dragon _is a flirt!"

May's nose wrinkled. "It's not like you can swap partners, though. Professor Dippet made it clear that no trades are allowed, so you're stuck with him. You might as well accept it, instead of moping around and wallowing in your self-pity all day."

"It's only been two hours, though…" Leaf grumbled as she flopped back onto the bed, throwing her arms out above her head. "It's not fair," she moaned, closing her eyes. "Why did _I _have to be paired with _him_? Do the professors _want_ me to kill him? Because if he insults Lithium again, I will…"

A smirk crawled on to May's lips. "You never know, maybe the professors are trying to set you up with him. Don't you remember the rumors about how most riders end up being in a romantic relationship with the person they're assigned to?"

Leaf shot up into a sitting position, staring at May incredulously. "May, you _know_ those rumors aren't true," she fiercely refuted, glaring at the sapphire-eyed brunette.

May grinned. "Then why are they always boy-girl pairings?" Leaf was silent at this. A smug smile formed on May's lips when the girl didn't reply. "That's what I thought," she said with a hint of satisfaction in her voice. Then, she brightened. "Hey, did you and Gary make plans to meet up later – you know, so that you can get better acquainted as partners?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Leaf sighed, massaging her forehead as if to ease a forming headache. "We have to, remember? Dumb school rules…" She could recall the details of the partner ceremony clear as day, all the way from when she had first entered the auditorium with May to when she stormed out the moment they were dismissed; fuming about being paired with _Gary Oak._ Oh, how she loathed his name.

. . .

_Leaf stared at Professor Dippet, horrified. Had she heard right? _Gary Oak _was her _partner_?_

_Her worst nightmare was confirmed when Gary climbed onto the stage and approached where she and the assembled professors were standing. He glanced at Leaf and smirked upon seeing her shocked expression._

_Then, another one of the professors – Professor Vaziri, the dragon care class instructor – stepped forward, a plush pillow resting on her palms. Professor Dippet graciously took the two necklaces resting on the pillow in his hands and turned to Gary, who bowed his head to allow the headmaster to slip one of the necklaces over his head._

_Professor Dippet did so, and then faced Leaf, who snapped out of her shock just soon enough to hastily bow her head as well. The professor smiled and slipped the necklace around her neck before stepping back to allow the newly proclaimed partners room._

_The moment the pendant on the silver chain touched her skin, Leaf felt another consciousness touch hers, and knew that it must be Gary's. It was a weird sensation, sort of like her connection to Lithium, but with Gary she could only feel his presence – not telepathically communicate with him, like she could her dragon. She was thankful he couldn't access her mind like Lithium could, though – what would she do if Gary knew all of her secrets?_

_Turning her head, her forest green eyes met Gary's, who was watching her with that awful smirk still stretched across his lips. She gritted her teeth and faced him, offering her hand to shake – as was required of new partners to signify their partnership._

_Gary extended his hand in return; shaking her hand in a relaxed, almost nonchalant way. She, however, stiffly copied the motion, the blood beneath her skin boiling with revulsion where his skin touched hers._

_After a few shakes Leaf quickly withdrew her hand, discretely wiping it against her skirt in an attempt to rid it of Gary's touch. They made eye contact with each other once more – narrowed green glaring at dark brown – before Leaf swiftly pivoted on her heel and headed towards her seat. She could see Gary returning to his seat across the room out of the corner of her eye, but pointedly ignored him as she sat down._

_The next person was then called up, but Leaf paid the rider no heed as she slouched in her seat, angrily fiddling with her tie. It didn't take long for her attention to be drawn to the gleaming pendant hanging around her neck, and she stopped playing with her cerise tie to examine it more closely._

_Lifting it up and closer to her eye, she stared in awe at her partner pendant. Unlike the example one Professor Dippet had shown the sixth years earlier, her pendant consisted of a maroon-colored stone set into a silver ring; Leaf could have almost sworn it emitted a faint glow in the dimmed lights of the auditorium._

_For a moment, it didn't matter that Gary was her partner, and that he had a pendant identical to hers; all that mattered was the gleaming maroon stone in her hand._

Lith, do you see this? _Leaf asked, sending a mental picture of the necklace to her dragon._

It's pretty,_ Lithium hummed, but the brunette could tell her dragon wasn't really paying attention. She rolled her eyes and was about to reply when the guy sitting in the seat to the right of her – Drew Hayden – nudged her._

_"Looks like this is the last pair to be announced," he said, leaning back in his seat and kicking up his feet on the seat in front of him. The blunette in that seat, however, turned around and glared at him with her piercing dark blue eyes, causing him to smile sheepishly and put his feet down. He anxiously tugged at his green tie – symbolizing that his dorm was Beau Plains and his dragon a Grass-type – as the blunette rolled her eyes before facing the front again._

_"I guess," Leaf sighed as she gently released the necklace and let it hang around her neck again; adverting her attention to the stage as the last two riders received their pendants._

_"I can't wait to get out of this boring place." He flicked his green hair out of his face and looked over at the brunette, flashing her a smile. "I mean, seriously, why do we need partners? I'm capable of doing missions on my own."_

_"I know, right?" Leaf nodded her head in agreement. "I got the worst partner ever."_

_"That sucks." He shrugged flippantly. "At least my partner's kind of hot."_

_"Hm, I don't really care," Leaf blatantly replied as she watched the last two riders exit the stage, a bored expression on her face as she rested her cheek against her palm. Drew snorted and rolled his eyes before directing his attention to the stage as Professor Dippet stepped forward._

_"Now that you have been assigned your partner," Professor Dippet began, "it is tradition that you, your partner, and your dragons meet together sometime between now and next Monday – when we will give the first set of missions out – so that you may get to know each other better. You and your partner will be responsible for choosing the time, date, and place of where and when you're going to meet up._

_"Also, remember that classes will still be held every day for the next week. Now, you are all dismissed."_

_As soon as the last word was out of the professor's mouth the students jumped out of their seats, filing towards the exits as they met up with their friends – and some, partners – and cheered and laughed as they escaped into the freedom of the academy's campus and no classes for the rest of the day._

_"Leaf, wait up!" The green-eyed brunette paused upon hearing her name being shouted, and turned and spotted May struggling through the crowd of students towards her. Stepping out of the stream of sixth years heading towards the doors, Leaf waited for her friend to catch up to her before she continued on._

_"Man, I was so nervous when they called me up there," May said as she and Leaf exited the auditorium. "My heart was in my throat, literally. I thought I was going to die, it was so intense in there!"_

_Leaf rolled her eyes. "You're over exaggerating, May. It wasn't _that_ bad." May stopped and frowned at her friend, but Leaf ignored her. "Hey, who was your partner again?" Leaf didn't want to admit that she hadn't been paying attention when her best friend had gone up to find out who her partner was, when May had most likely been paying attention during Leaf's turn._

_"It was-."_

_"Yo."_

_Leaf and May abruptly stopped in their tracks when Gary suddenly appeared in front of them, causing both of them to take a step back, startled. Leaf cursed under her breath; if there was one thing she absolutely hated about the dorm members of Darkness Ridge, it was that they knew how to manipulate the shadows around them to hide themselves. Sure, it might have been a good thing, if Gary didn't use it to scare May and Leaf out of their wits every day. This was not the first time something like this had happened before._

_"Oh gosh, Gary, you scared me!" May gasped, holding a hand to her chest – right above where her heart was. "I hate it when you do that!" He simply gave her a smug look in reply._

_Leaf groaned. "What do you want, Oak?" she snapped, glaring at him._

_Gary, however, ignored her, and instead turned to May. "Mind if I steal your friend for a while?" he asked, nodding in Leaf's direction._

_Leaf's eyebrows furrowed, and she was about to protest when Gary – without an answer from May – continued, "Good, okay then. Green, you're coming with me."_

_"Wait wha-AHH!" Leaf shrieked when Gary grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder with no warning whatsoever. "Put me down!" She struggled frantically and banged on his back, but to no avail did he let go._

_"See ya later, Bandana," Gary gave a mock two-fingered salute to the bewildered May as he walked off, Leaf in tow._

Lithium!_ Leaf whined. _Help me!

Sorry, Leafy. I've kind of got my own problem to deal with right now, too.

_"Gary Oak, I will say this one last time. Put. Me. Down," Leaf growled._

_"Okay," he complied to her surprise._

_And then he unceremoniously dropped her on the ground._

_"Ow… What the hell was that for?" She scowled at him as she climbed back on to her feet, stopping to brush the dirt off of her black skirt._

_"Language, Green, language." He made a clicking sound with his tongue, and flicked her forehead with his index finger. As she rubbed the spot where he had hit her, he continued._

_"Look," he drawled, "I know that neither of us wanted to be partnered with the other, but we're stuck together. So, meet me at the fountain near the west gate tomorrow, twelve o'clock sharp."_

_Leaf perked an eyebrow at him. "Why?"_

_"For that stupid 'partner's meeting' thing, duh," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, rolling his eyes for additional effect._

_"And I get no say in this? What if I have a class tomorrow at that time?"_

_"I don't know, skip it or something. That's not _my_ problem," he haughtily retorted._

_Leaf's eye twitched, but she forced herself to take a deep breath to calm herself before she spoke. Then, right as she opened her mouth to speak, she noticed something that made her smirk._

_"Fine," she agreed in a tone that resembled Gary's haughty one, "I'll be there at noon." Ignoring the flabbergasted look on Gary's face – probably caused by her agreeing so easily - she started towards where her dorm was located._

_"Oh, and by the way," Leaf whispered as she brushed past him, "I think you have a little bit of a bruise around your right eye."_

_. . ._

"So you're meeting's tomorrow?" May hummed once Leaf had given her her account of the story after Gary had carried her away. "Mine's today at…what time is it?"

Leaf quickly checked the clock on her wall. "It's…4:56."

May eyes widened. "Oh no! I'm going to be late! My partner said our meeting was at five!" she exclaimed, scrambling off of the bed and messing up Leaf's green bed sheets in the process.

As she grabbed the door handle, ready to pull it open and dart out, she paused, and a concentrated look formed on her face.

"Hey, Alkali, take that back! I am not an idiot!" she yelled, and then stormed out of the dorm room.

Leaf rolled her eyes; May never realized she said things out loud when speaking to her dragon. She lay back down on her bed, relaxing into the pillows, and had just closed her eyes when a sudden realization made her jerk up into a sitting position.

She had forgotten to ask who May's partner was. _Again_.

_Darn it._

* * *

_Lith, where are you?_ Leaf impatiently tapped her foot on the ground. _It's almost noon._

_Calm down, I'm right above you._

Leaf looked up, and sure enough, a majestic silver dragon was lazily circling in the sky above her. Slowly, the dragon started to descend towards the brunette; spiraling downward towards the ground.

A minute later Lithium landed on the ground, sending a shockwave pulsing through the ground and over Leaf. Once the shockwave had subsided Leaf approached her dragon, who bowed her head to allow her rider to stroke her scaled skin.

In the empty courtyard the two stood in, Lithium was the most eye-catching thing in it at the moment – outranking even the beautifully constructed water fountain a few yards away.

Towering at least fifteen feet high and twenty feet long, Lithium was catching every glint from the sun on her shimmery silver scales, making her shine like the metal she was named after. Despite how large she might seem given her measurements, Lithium was an average sized dragon for her age. Some dragons – like the ones owned by the experienced riders that had already graduated the academy – were twice, sometimes even three times, the size of Lithium, depending on their age.

However, that wasn't to say that there weren't large dragons owned by academy riders, either.

Leaf looked up at the sky and then down at her watch, letting out a prolonged sigh of irritation. "Who tells somebody to be on time when they end up being the one late?" she grumbled, kicking a stray stone off of the path she was standing on.

Her pendant felt odd; Leaf could almost swear it was vibrating, as if sensing something coming closer and closer…

_They're here,_ Lithium announced just as a strong gust of wind lashed the courtyard.

Leaf let out a startled yelp and ducked under Lithium's wing as another gale blew down on them. Peeking out from under her dragon's wing, Leaf realized that the wind was coming from the downbeat of a dragon's wing – and it didn't take a genius to figure out whose.

Descending into the courtyard was a large – scratch that, _humongous_ – black dragon. Thank Arceus the courtyard was rather spacious, or else it would have been a rather tight squeeze.

Leaf recognized the dragon – she had seen him various times before; not many, but enough to know who he was – but was still stunned by the massive size of the dragon, as she always was.

The dragon finally touched down on the ground – causing Leaf to cling to Lithium's leg as the ground shook – and the two watched as a human figure slid off the dragon.

"It's about time you got here!" Leaf yelled from under the protection of Lithium's wing as the rider approached them. "You're late."

His mouth twitched in amusement. "You can't rush greatness," Gary replied, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders. He casually strolled towards them as Leaf came out from under Lithium's wing, sending a dirty glare in the spiky-haired brunet's direction.

Just then, Gary's dragon joined the trio of humans and dragon. He was nearly twice the size of Lithium – well, twenty five feet tall and thirty feet long was pretty close to twice her length, anyways – and had scales blacker than a pitch black night. It was no wonder he was a Dark-type.

_Well _hello_ there, Lithium,_ Gary's dragon flirtatiously purred, eyeing the female dragon's body. Lithium snorted and turned her head away.

_Azreth._ She said his name in disdainful way.

Leaf paused. Wait a minute – she understood what Azreth was saying now? She could never understand any dragon but Lithium before. _Must be the pendant,_ she thought, recalling how Professor Dippet had said it was made of a mix of you and your partner's dragons' "essences".

"Gary, don't you have any control over your dragon?" She placed her hands on her hips and scowled at her partner.

Gary smirked. "Hey, if Azreth wants to flirt with the lady dragons, who am I to stop him? 'Sides, he learned how to flirt from the best." Gary proudly pointed at himself.

"Oh please," she scoffed, "you and your dragon are just perverts. Flirting with all of the girls and dragons at the academy is not a feat to be proud of."

Gary's eyes – viridian in color at the moment – sparkled with amusement. "Jealous that I flirt with other girls and not y-?"

_"MOSH! NO! GIVE ME BACK MY SANDWIIII__**IIICH**__!"_

Gary and Leaf's head whipped in the direction the yell had come from, only to let out a yelp and duck as a small, skinny gray dragon corkscrewed through the air above their heads, snickering as it cast a glance behind it before shooting up into the sky and over the courtyard wall. This dragon must have been "Mosh", because it was carrying a BLT sandwich in its claws.

Seconds later Ash appeared, sprinting after the dragon like his life depended on it. When he saw his dragon fly over the courtyard wall, however, he fell to his knees, distraught.

_"NOOOOOOOO!"_ He wailed, shaking his fists at the sky. _"MY SANDWICH!"_

Leaf, Gary, Lithium, and Azreth stared at him blankly before Gary spoke up.

"Dude, it's just a sandwich."

* * *

Hey guys, it's AquaStarlight making her debut this chapter. ;)

There's not much to say about this chapter, but both Apheleia and I want to thank everybody (again) for reviewing/favoriting/following so far. :) It really means a lot to us.


	3. Chapter 3

As childish and naïve as Ash was, such a dramatic reaction over the loss of a sandwich still puzzled the spectators. It was a while before Leaf or Gary could calm a nearly-blubbering Ash, who was extremely distraught over his lost sandwich. It wasn't as if they were making a huge effort to do so in the first place, though.

Leaf rolled her eyes. "You'll live, Ash."

"Ash, it's just a _sandwich_," muttered Gary again.

"But… Misty gave that one to me!" he wailed.

"So?" snorted Gary.

Leaf shot Gary a dark look, disapproving of his insensitivity, and promptly hit him as hard as she could. She _knew _he knew about Ash and the orange-haired girl.

"What?" asked Gary, now slightly annoyed at the girl and gingerly holding his right tricep. It'd been two days in a row now that the girl hit him (and hard). If this kept on, before long, he'd have bruises all over his body. And not the kinky kind, he thought bitterly.

"You know, you can be really… _crass, _Oak," she hissed, glaring at him.

He glared back, losing his patience by the second – an action that was rather uncharacteristic of him. "Yeah? Can I just say that I think you're _barbaric_ as well, Green? Or does that just add to my _crassness_?"

"You're an _idiot_."

Eyes slightly narrowed, he was about to call her something quite a bit more offensive than "idiot", and his tongue was even poised to do it, his mouth open. Luckily, something inside stopped him from doing so. He squeezed his eyes shut, gathering his cool. He closed his mouth and relaxed his face, much to the surprise of Leaf, who already had her next insult ready.

When he opened his eyes again, he shrugged and sighed, "Whatever, as long as you're hot."

"And _you're _even _more_- …wait, what?" said the brunette, openly confused. Her face was colored a light pink, although whether or not that was from the quickly escalating fight or the sudden declaration of her attractiveness, nobody was exactly sure.

Gary's mouth quirked upwards into a smirk and Leaf resisted the urge to punch him in the face again. "Thanks, Green, but I know."

* * *

Even more confused than Leaf, at this point, was Ash who was still on the ground. He had been watching Gary and Leaf curiously, but was confused as heck. He _kind of _understood why Leaf had been insulting Gary, and why Gary had responded back with comebacks of his own, but the "as long as you're hot" statement was overly confusing to him.

Lucky for him, though, a certain gray dragon chose that moment to reappear over the courtyard walls again, swoop down, catch Ash's sweater in his mouth, and fly away with him. Also lucky for Ash - the BLT sandwich was still in the dragon's claws. The beast snickered.

"…_WHY, MOSH_?!"

* * *

Gary, Lithium, and Alkali watched as Ash and Mosh left as quickly/strangely as they had come. Leaf promptly smacked her forehead with her palm at the antics of her friend and his dragon.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that he was in my class, I'd never believe that Ash is _almost_ as good of a fighter as I am," mused Gary, heavily emphasizing the "almost".

Leaf scowled. She wasn't totally sure how good Gary was – surprisingly, she'd never ever had any combat classes with him – but she'd had Ground Combat with Ash last year, and he had been _damn_ good. She hadn't kept track, but of the dozen or so battles she'd had with him, Ash won at least three-fourths of them. And, not to brag, but Leaf herself was one of the better fighters in the grade. Not as good on ground as Ash, (although she was one of the best in the school when it came to aerial fights, presumably because of her strong bond and communication skills with Lithium), but good enough. Therefore, it was hard for her to believe that Gary was better than Ash, and in turn, _much_ better than _her._

"Prove it," she said.

He cocked an eyebrow. "What are you saying, Green?"

"Prove it," repeated Leaf, instinctively beginning to shift into a combative pose. Embers began burning in her eyes. "Fight me."

Gary watched her, amusement dancing in his eyes. What an interesting girl. "Relax your position, Green. I'm not going to fight you."

"Why not?" she demanded. "Because I'm a _girl_?"

"Partly," he admitted. Upon Leaf's dumbfounded expression, he chuckled and continued. "And partly because I want to get better acquainted with you today... in a _civilized_ manner."

"Well, I don't," she retorted. "I want to fight you because I hate you so much and then I can have an excuse to hit you and it's alright for me to try to leave as many bruises as I can on your stupid body-"

Gary chuckled, interrupting her. He smirked. "Watch your language, Green. You wouldn't want to give me the wrong idea," he purred, eyes flashing seductively.

Leaf reddened. She narrowed her eyes. "You know, you've always annoyed me, Oak."

Gary smirked smugly back. "Tell me something I _don't_ know."

_Children, children, please…_came Lithium's voice in both of their minds, albeit a decibel louder in Leaf's than in Gary's. _Conduct this meeting like the civilized humans you are, please. Or we _will _bite your heads off, just to stop your infuriating noise._

The two looked over at the two dragons, who were lying on their stomachs about ten yards away. Azreth seemed to snoozing quietly, although really, the large obsidian dragon only had his eyes closed and was actually paying attention to every word that was being spoken. Lithium was next to him, albeit a few cautiously-distanced yards away. Her neck was lifted, and she was glaring accusingly at the two perpetrators of the noise of the otherwise peacefully quiet courtyard.

"…Sorry, Lith," muttered Leaf, loud enough that she knew the dragon could hear.

"Shut it, Azreth," said Gary, glaring at his dragon, who responded with a snort.

Leaf blinked in surprise, and raised an eyebrow. She hadn't heard the large black dragon's voice at all just now. "Did Azreth say something?"

"Yeah," he said. Then he turned to Leaf, confusion and a flicker of relief on his face. "You didn't hear what he said?"

"No…"

"Interesting… I guess they can choose whether or not they want to talk to one or both of us," mused Gary. "I wonder…" And then his face became slightly scrunched from concentration.

Leaf watched as the brunet faced his dragon, although the dragon himself didn't move a muscle from his seemingly-asleep position. A moment later, Gary appeared satisfied. "So I guess we can still have private conversations with our dragons," he said.

"Congratulations, Sherlock. Would you like a prize?" said Leaf sarcastically.

The boy turned to Leaf, his ever infamous smirk plastered on his face. "Only if it's you, Green," he said with a wink.

Leaf rolled her eyes. "You know, Gary? We've only been here five minutes, and I think I've already been here five minutes too long. Can we _please_ just… sit down over… there?" she asked exasperatedly, pointing to a nearby stone bench. "And just get this partner's meeting over with? I don't know if I can stand you much longer."

Gary casually offered her his hand, like a footman does to his mistress when she walks down a flight of stairs or a guy does to a girl when he leads her out to the dance floor.

Leaf brushed right past him.

* * *

"So… How do these meetings work, anyway? Am I supposed to just… tell you something? …Or something?"

Gary nonchalantly shrugged. Lazily, he put his hands behind his head and stretched his feet so that they were nearly a yard in front of the bench they were sitting on. "I don't know. What's your favorite color?"

Leaf blinked at him incredulously. "How is that at all relevant to missions?"

"Probably isn't. So what is it?"

"So then why would you want to know?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's irrelevant."

"So?"

"So it's unnecessary!"

"So?"

"So it's a bit of a waste of time!"

"I'd say this argument is a bit of a waste of time."

Leaf glared at the boy, who actually wasn't even bothering to look at her. Instead, his eyes were closed, and he seemed so relaxed, as if he could fall asleep right at that moment. His peaceful face was actually pretty attractive, but Leaf wasn't exactly in the right mood to acknowledge stuff like that at the moment.

Finally, she conceded. "…Silver."

"Silver?"

"Silver."

"Why silver?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Is it because that's the color of my eyes?"

"No, idiot. It's the color of Lithium's scales."

"And my eyes, right?"

"Your eyes aren't even silver! They're green!"

"Right now, they aren't. Half the time, they're gray."

"That's not silver."

"Close enough."

"Not really."

"It's weird that your eyes can change color like that."

"It's attractive to girls."

"That's funny. You should be a comedian."

"That's cold, Green."

"What're your strengths?" asked Leaf, abruptly changing the subject.

"Flirting, exuding pheromones, getting girls-"

"Oak…"

"Kidding. Ground combat, raw power, and confusing my opponent, to quote Professor Vaziri. You?"

"Aerial, dexterity, agility, parrying… to quote Professor Vaziri."

"So we really are matched for the best, aren't we?"

Leaf scowled. "Combative, maybe. No promises that I won't _accidentally_ let a bad guy get a good stab at you, though."

Gary's eyes flickered open, and he turned his head to look at Leaf. There was a smidge of real concern in his eyes. "…Would you?"

"Maybe."

"Be honest, Green. This partnership's going to have to be built on trust, you know."

"I am. Don't you trust me when I say I really, _really _don't want you for my partner?"

Gary sighed. "Are you still mad about yesterday?"

"You mean yesterday, when you insulted my dragon, who's ten times the friend you'll ever be?"

"Yes. I'm sorry about that, by the way."

_Let it go, Leaf. It didn't get to me, so it shouldn't have gotten to you._

"See? Even your dragon agrees."

_I was talking to her, not you, inferior human. _

Leaf chuckled wryly. "Not only yesterday, Oak. Believe it or not, you've kind of been giving me snide remarks since our first year."

"I don't recall such a thing."

"No? Let me give you some reminders, then. In first year, you told me my cheeks were fat and my hair was ugly and that it looked like a Bug dragon's nest. In second year, you said my handwriting was the worst you'd ever seen, and my cheeks were too ruddy, whatever that's supposed to mean, and that my body was like... like a wooden plank. In third year, you just said I was ugly in about a dozen different ways. In fourth year, you said I'm probably really bad at fighting, because I'm really bad at music. By the way, that logic made no sense... and, mind you, I _am_ good at music. Last year, it was pretty much a combination of all the years before, only with fancier words and more grammatical structure to your insults."

Gary was amused. "You remembered all of them? I think I'm flattered, Green."

"Don't be, I only remember them because I wanted to kick and/or punch you in different areas each time."

Gary snorted. "Right. So… what are Lithium's strengths?"

"Lithium? My dragon that you just insulted yesterday? Funny you should ask. Dexterity, agility, controlling other objects to do _whatever_ she wants, fireballs that hit their mark every time…" She paused. "And Azreth?"

"… Defenses, raw attack power, ability to get into and mess with his opponents' minds…" recited Gary. "You know, Green, I hate to say it, but I think the professors really did get us right."

Leaf frowned, stubbornly crossing her arms. "_I_ don't think so."

* * *

"So, how did your meeting with Gary go?" asked May nonchalantly as she scribbled the answers to a history assignment in her journal. The two were currently lying on Leaf's bed, which happened to be the bottom one in a set of bunk beds. The only other person in the room was a second year, and she was about to shower. All four of Leaf's other roommates were elsewhere on campus.

Leaf sighed as she absentmindedly sketched Lithium. In the picture, the dragon's left wing seemed a bit off, so she went back to fix it. "How do you _think_ it went, May?"

"Splendidly? And by that, I mean you punched him in the face again," giggled May.

Leaf cracked a smile. "I wish. Half the time, we weren't even talking about fighting."

"What were you talking about?"

"At one point, we were talking about my favorite color…"

"Isn't it silver?" asked May. "… Kind of like his eyes, right?" she mused.

Leaf groaned. "That's actually exactly what he said, May…"

The brunette laughed delightedly. "So he was flirting with you?"

"I think so, but he flirts with everyone."

May smiled. "Come on, Leaf. Give him a chance. He's actually pretty good, as far as fighting... I know you guys would make a good team. Plus, he's really not bad. Looks-wise, of course."

"Well, yeah, looks-wise, he's… not bad. At all," admitted Leaf sheepishly. "But May, I really _can't_ stand his personality…"

"Well, you'll learn to, Leaf. Let's be honest – there are much worse things out there in the world than Gary Oak."

Leaf sighed, knowing May was right about that. After all, Gary Oak wasn't exactly trying to take over the world. "I guess I'm pretty lucky as far as getting a good partner… I _guess_. By the way, I never got around to finding out, May – who's yours?"

May grimaced. "Drew."

Leaf gaped. "Hayden?"

"Hayden. The grass head."

Leaf laughed loudly, the hilariousness of it overtaking her. "Oh- my gosh… May… That's…" she made out between chortles.

May groaned. "Leaf!" she whined despairingly. "It's _not_ funny! I'm doomed!"

"Kind of funny-"

"_Not_ funny!"

"That's _hilarious_! Remember yesterday when you were telling me about that rumor that most people end up in a relationship with their partners? The fact that you're his partner actually makes sense!"

May fumed. "How?!" she demanded.

"Well, for one, you're totally into him…"

"Wait, wh-"

"And yesterday, he told me, and I quote, 'At least my partner's kind of hot.'"

"…Wait, what-"

"Oh, wow, this is gold… I have _got_ to tell Dawn about this…"

"Wait, Leaf!" moaned May. "He said that? To you?"

"He did indeed, my dear. You might as well ask him out right now."

May pouted. "Leaf, if there's one relationship I have that's similar to yours with Gary's, it's with Drew. Imagine asking _Gary_ out."

Leaf grimaced at the thought. "Fine… but when the time comes, I _am_ telling you 'I told you so', just so you know."

"Now go away. You're distracting me from my homework, and I won't be able to finish by bedtime, at this rate," said May, childishly sticking her tongue out.

"So burn the midnight oil."

"That's a safety hazard."

"Alright, May. I'll be kicked out of my own dorm by you. Sure," she said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, but she got up from the bed anyways. "But I do have to go do something."

"Have fun," said May absentmindedly.

"Bye, April."

"_Leaf_!"

* * *

Leaf stood outside the Headmaster's door nervously, unsure of whether to knock or not. Obviously, she was going to have to, _eventually_, or else this would've been a pointless trip, but…

Luckily for her, just then, the door swung open. The movement shocked Leaf and paralyzed her for a moment as she was frozen in mid-knock.

The door revealed a professor, whom Leaf recognized as Professor Amelian, one of the dragon combat trainers. The young man smiled politely at Leaf, who reciprocated the action. Professor Amelian then murmured a soft, "Excuse me," and brushed past Leaf to head down the steep, winding staircase that led up to the tower that was Dippet's office.

"Ah, Ms. Green," said the elderly man upon noticing Leaf in his doorway. "Come in," he said graciously. "Take a seat."

Leaf obliged. "Thank you, Professor," she said stiffly as she lowered herself into the plush chair that sat on the other side of the headmaster's mahogany desk from the man himself.

"Would you care for some tea?" asked the man as he straightened a thick stack of papers on his desk.

"No. Thank you though, Professor. I just wanted to ask you a question."

"Ask away, my dear."

"Okay, um… well, Professor…" Leaf stammered, trying to phrase this correctly. "See, I'm not doubting yours or the other professors' judgments, but… wasn't it a terrible idea to make Gary Oak my partner?"

"Ah," said the headmaster, stroking his beard. "I expected you to ask me this sooner or later," he said, nodding.

"So… isn't it?"

"Well… you have to see, Ms. Green, that these missions are about more than simply your personal preference. Some of them may get gruesome, even – the missions, I mean. I don't know if you've noticed, Ms. Green, but not all of the partnerships are… shall we say… completely fair."

"…What do you mean, Professor?"

"Some of the missions can get terribly dangerous, as you may know from the tales of a few seventh years – namely the ones that have completed missions directly relating to Vesuvius's empire. To ensure their safety as best as we can, the Riders tackling these particular missions must be more than capable of handling themselves _and _their partners impeccably well. There can not afford to be loopholes in their combined abilities. Therefore, a small number of the partnerships were specifically chosen to excel – you and Mr. Oak are one of these partnerships."

"But… but why Gary, Professor? I'm sure the staff is aware that we both hate each other…"

"Trust me, Ms. Green, the staff was _very_ aware of that particular point when we were deciding the partners," chuckled Dippet. "In fact, your partnership was one of the ones that garnered the most debate. We wondered whether or not your dislike of one another would impact the execution of your missions in a potentially severe and/or life threatening way."

"But…"

"But we decided that, in the end, your abilities complement each other far too well to ignore. Whether you like it or not, or are aware of it or not, the two of you will familiarize yourselves with each others' strengths and weaknesses, adapt to each others' combative styles, and ultimately, learn for yourself the way to overcome your own weaknesses - which, uncoincidentally, are Mr. Oak's strengths, and vice versa. Trust me when I say, Ms. Green, that I and the rest of staff believe strongly in your and Mr. Oak's ability to compromise and get along. Once you cross that hurdle, I can assure you that the two of you will be a very, very formidable duo."

"But-"

"Consider it a learning experience, Ms. Green," said Dippet sharply. "Throughout the course of your life, you will encounter many people whom you may not wholeheartedly agree with. When that happens, it is up to you whether or not you shall decide to be the bigger person. Believe me, it _is_ a life skill to learn to tolerate and compromise."

"… Alright, Professor," said Leaf, standing up. "Thank you."

The headmaster smiled warmly. "Please feel free to visit whenever."

The brunette nodded, still trying to comprehend the full meaning of Dippet's words, though she didn't voice this out loud. She made her way to the door. As her hand rested on the knob, one last thought pervaded Leaf's mind. "Er… Professor?"

"Yes?"

"One more question."

"I'm all ears."

"Is it true that when you and the other professors are deciding the partners, that you're trying to… well… set us up, too?"

Dippet peered at the girl over his spectacles, clearly amused. A smile danced on the edge of lips. "As far as romantic relationships, Ms. Green, I can assure you we're not looking specifically for that. I will, however, concede that romantic compatibility may, occasionally, be synonymous to combative compatibility. Oftentimes, it depends on how far the two people in question are willing to push themselves, and how they decide to supplement each other."

"So… that's a…?"

"To put it one way...it is open to interpretation, Ms. Green."

Leaf nodded slowly, although she still didn't understand. "Thank you, Professor." And with that, she pulled open the large wooden door, stepped to the other side of the doorframe, and softly shut the door behind her.

Dippet watched the girl leave as he comfortably leaned back in his chair. The action felt good after a long day.

He chuckled. Well, the last part wasn't a _complete_ lie. It really did depend on the people in question, although in his experience, romantic and combative compatibility pointed to the same person much more often than simply "occasionally". He had a few theories about it, too.

The headmaster hummed happily as he poured himself a cup of tea.

He expected a good story out of Mr. Oak and Ms. Green's partnership – mission accomplishments or otherwise.

* * *

Well, that's chapter 3. :) Thank you to all the reviewers, favoriters, and alerters up to now. It means a lot! x)

-Apheleia


	4. Chapter 4

**_*IMPORTANT NOTE: _**Before you read this chapter, you need to watch a video (the link is on our profile) to understand the reference in music class. :)

* * *

_Chapter 4_

May sprinted down the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her, her footsteps like a clap of thunder in the empty hallway. She skidded as she took a sharp turn around a corner and took off down another hallway, flying past the classroom doors lining the walls.

_You're going to be late,_ a bubbly, cheerful voice chimed in her head, distinctively female. _Professor Eilian won't be happy; you've been tardy nearly a week in a row now._

"No I'm no-AH!" May nearly ran past Professor Eilian's classroom, but caught herself at the last second and swung back to grab the door handle.

She threw the door open and stumbled inside, causing all of the students and the professor to turn around and stare at her. "Am I," she panted, trying to catch her breath, "la-"

At that moment, the tardy bell decided to ring.

"-te?"

The professor's thin lips stretched into a forced smile. "No, Ms. Maple, you're not. Now please, sit down," Professor Eilian said, disdain dripping from his words. May quickly nodded and scurried to her seat, head down. She knew Professor Eilian hated her, and always punished her if given the opportunity – though she had no idea why the man had a reason to dislike her. Just because Alkali had _accidentally_ roasted her history book didn't mean he had to hate her… Either way, she knew she had escaped another day of detention.

As she sat down in her seat, letting her red-and-black-plaid messenger bag slide off of her shoulder and drop on to the ground, May sighed and immediately tuned out Professor Eilian, who was blabbering on about the "great dragon god Arceus. The first known dragon in existence", or something like that.

Propping her elbow up on the desk and resting her cheek on her palm, she stared out the window, daydreaming. _I hope Leaf wasn't late to class too,_ she mused.

* * *

Leaf dashed into the academy's sparring room, cursing under her breath when she saw sparring matches already going on between various students in the room.

Skirting around a pair of boys locked hand-in-hand as they tumbled over the blue mat padding the ground, growling at each other like a pair of dragons, Leaf headed towards where Professor Amelian – the ground combat instructor – stood surveying the practice fights from the center of the room. As she approached him, she noticed her blunette friend (not a very close friend, mind you; just barely above being an acquaintance), Dawn Berlitz, arguing with the professor.

"But Professor Amelian," Dawn was whining as Leaf came closer, "if I have to go and fight on the ground like that, my hair will get all messed up! And it took me _hours_ to get it looking like this, too!"

Professor Amelian sighed irritably, crossing his arms over his chest. "Dawn, we have this argument nearly every day; you and I both know what my answer is going to be."

"But Professor…" she complained.

"No buts." Professor Amelian shook his head. "Now go practice. Drew is waiting for you." He pointed towards where the green-haired student stood, impatiently waiting for his sparring partner. Dawn huffed, but complied and walked over to where Drew was.

"Um…Professor?" Leaf hesitantly asked, catching the attention of the man, who turned to face her.

"Hm? Oh, well if it isn't Leaf. You're late, you know," Professor Amelian said, smiling at her. Leaf nervously smiled back. Professor Amelian was one of the nicer sixth year teachers; probably Leaf's favorite. He never got mad at her for being late to class, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty when she was late. Yet somehow, she wasn't guilty when she skipped entire classes. Go figure.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that." Leaf wasn't about to tell him about how May had dragged her out of her dorm at the crack of dawn to "tell her something important" only for the blue-eyed brunette to get distracted when she smelled a pastry and ended up dragging her around the campus all morning in search of the delicious treat.

"Well, since class has already started, it doesn't look like there'll be time for you to change into your sparring clothes…" The professor was referring to the black sweats and gray t-shirt that all academy students were issued to wear for ground combat class. "Maybe you could…" Professor Amelian swiveled his head to look around the room. "…practice working with your sword?" he suggested, motioning the weapons rack on the far side of the room.

"Okay." Leaf nodded and made her way towards the area where the weapons were lined up and hung on the wall. Every student was given their own weapon at the beginning of third year based on their skill level and abilities, like how agile they were or accurate at throwing weapons (like daggers, etc.). What type their dragons were played a factor, too. Most riders in the active rebel ranks had weapons embedded with elemental powers based on what type their dragon was, like gloves that allowed you to throw fireballs and swords that controlled water.

Leaf had been given a sword as her weapon (along with two daggers, though she excelled more in fighting with her sword) during her third year. It was an older sword – a katana, or "samurai sword", as it was called – and had small pieces of jade embedded in the handle. The blade was extremely sharp, and the weapon as a whole very lightweight. This made it easy for Leaf to deliver fast hits to her targets and cut smoothly through them. She liked to think that the blade represented her sharp tongue (which often lashed people with sarcastic insults – mainly Gary), too.

Taking her sword off the rack it was resting on, Leaf moved over to where a line of fake dummies were hanging from the ceiling, made to look like the king's soldiers. The brunette positioned herself in the middle of a circle of the dummies and unsheathed her sword, pulling it out of its scabbard. The blade glistened under the lights of the training room as she wrapped her hands around its hilt.

Taking in a deep breath and then exhaling it slowly, Leaf closed her eyes and gathered her concentration. Then, with a yell, she opened her eyes and swung the sword at the nearest dummy, chopping its head off. Its body fell to the ground as she spun around and delivered a strike to another dummy's arm, leaving a deep gash in it for the stuffing inside the dummy to fall out.

She then proceeded to slash and twirl and attack the other dummies. Within a minute, all were cut up pieces of fabric, stuffing, and poorly drawn "soldiers'" faces, yet Leaf hadn't even broken a sweat.

Sighing, Leaf stared at the dummies she had just destroyed. Then, she looked at the clock on the far wall of the room. She had only killed a few minutes of her hour-long class so far. "Today's going to be a long day, isn't it?" she asked herself as she sheathed her sword and went to go fetch more fake dummies to hang up.

"Maybe if I imagined the dummies as Gary it would be more fun…"

* * *

May needed to correct herself; Professor Eilian hated _all_ of the students, not just her, bar the teacher's pet – her annoyingly cocky and frustrating partner, broccoli head Hayden.

So as soon as the bell rang at the end of first, May flew out the door, eager to escape to her next class. Unluckily for Leaf, however, she had this class next.

After every student was present, Professor Eilian launched into the lesson, talking so fast that everyone had trouble taking notes – not that they had to, anyway, because this was something they had learned way back in first year (and for some, before they had even joined the academy.)

"As you all know, Arceus was the first known dragon in existence. It created all of the different varieties of dragons we have now – fire, water, grass, etcetera… Some say that it is a myth and that it never existed, but there is no way to prove if this is true or not because Arceus lived many a millennium ago and nobody alive then is still alive today. However- Yes, Dawn?"

All heads swiveled in the direction of the blunette, who was sitting near the back with her hand raised.

"How did it give birth to all the other dragons if it didn't have another one to mate with?"

Leaf slapped her palm against her face.

"Oh Dawn…" Professor Eilian sighed.

* * *

Third period rolled around at an extremely slow pace, and to be honest, Leaf wasn't looking forward to it. She just so happened to share music class, her elective, with her idiot-of-a-partner, Gary Oak, and where there's Gary, there are many insults to be received and retorted.

When Leaf arrived in the band room, most of the other students were already there; taking their instruments out of their lockers and warming up by playing a simple tune or two. This was the Symphonic Band's class period, so you would expect them to be well behaved and practicing their music, right?

Wrong.

When Leaf entered the room, she was met with a crowd of kids gathered around Gary, who was playing the "Sexy Sax Man" version of "Careless Whisper" on his saxophone. He had removed his gray sweater and unbuttoned the top few buttons on his white collared shirt to reveal his collarbone and part of his – Leaf couldn't believe she was thinking this – nicely toned chest underneath. His black tie hung loosely around his neck and he wore a pair of shades as he stood on a chair and played to "complete the look."

"Dun nun nun nun. Dun nun nun nun."

Leaf looked around wildly – where was Professor Marisol when you needed her? Sure, the female professor may have been a bit too relaxed and fun-loving for her own good, but surely even _she_ wouldn't allow this!

Once she realized that the professor was nowhere in the room, Leaf let out an aggravated sigh and started towards the crowd, pushing other students out of the way to reach Gary. She made sure to keep her eyes on his face, though, dare she blush if she looked at his chest.

"Gary!" she yelled over the other students' cries of "Please teach me that!" and their humming along to the tune. The spiky-haired brunet quickly spotted his partner, and stopped playing to put his shades up on top of his head and smirk down at her.

"Hey Green," he said, a sparkle in his gray eyes – something that Leaf noticed. Apparently his eyes _were_ sometimes gray after all. "Enjoying the music?"

"No." She frowned. "Quit playing that stupid song before Professor Marisol gets here."

"Oh, this stupid song?" Gary smugly smiled, and then proceeded to play the song again. "Dun nun nun nun, dun nun nun nun."

Leaf scowled and opened her mouth to speak. "Would you st-!"

"Dun nun nun nun, dun nun nun nun. Dun nun nun nun nuuuuuh, nu-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun-nun."

"Stop-!"

"Dun nun nun nun, dun nun nun nun."

"Gary, I will-!"

"Dun nun nun nun, dun nun nun n-AH!" The saxophone let out a shrill squeak as Leaf stepped up on to the chair and promptly kneed him right _there_, causing him to let out a shriek of pain and fall off the chair. Meanwhile, the students watching the partners' exchange burst out laughing.

"-kick you in the balls," Leaf finished.

With a triumphant smirk on her face, the brunette turned to go get her flute out of her locker just as Professor Marisol entered the room, leaving a moaning Gary lying on the floor.

"I tried to warn him…" Leaf shrugged when another student gave her a quizzical look.

* * *

"Ashy-boy, you just got beat by a girl!" Gary hollered with laughter as he watched Ash lose miserably to Misty in a sparring match. He had recovered from Leaf's, ahem, "warning" by fourth period, which – for him – was ground combat class.

Said girl was easily pinning the raven-haired boy to the ground while he flailed underneath her, desperately trying to shove her off.

"Gaaarrry!" Ash whined, accepting the redhead's hand after she got off him to help him up. "Thank you Misty," he thanked her, and she smiled in return.

"No problem." It wasn't very surprising that Misty had beat Ash. Ash may have been a phenomenal fighter, but Misty was on a whole other level.

"Okay, so who's next?" she asked, looking around and placing her hands on her hips. Every student gathered around where the sparring match between Ash and Misty had occurred took a step back, leaving Gary – who was still laughing up a storm – out in the open.

"Wait wha-?" he said in alarm when he realized what was happening.

Misty smiled evilly. "Show me what you got, Oak," she said, assuming a battle stance.

"WAIT, NO!"

. . .

Barely five minutes later, Gary lay moaning on the ground for the second time in one day – both times because of a girl. Seriously, what was wrong with all of the girls today? Normally they'd be flirting with Gary – not beating him up, he thought through his pain.

"Great job, Misty," Ash congratulated her, grinning while at his feet, Gary lay clutching his stomach where Misty had punched him in the gut. Misty smiled in return before Professor Amelian called her over to speak to her.

"Wow Misty, you took out both Gary and Ash out in no time flat! With fighting skill like that, you could even be an assistant combat instructor!" Professor Amelian praised her.

Misty smiled brightly. "Thanks, professor."

* * *

"Okay, so today, class, we will be learning how to start a fire with just two pieces of flint," Professor Mercury announced, holding up two pieces of the stone for all of the students to see.

"But Professor Mercury, haven't we learned how to do that already?" Gary questioned, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning on the trunk of tree.

Fifth period for Gary was survival class, taught by Professor Mercury – a tall, thin man with glasses and long black hair tied back into a ponytail. All in all, he screamed "scientist!" (just without the lab coat.)

Today they were out in the forest bordering the academy (although still inside of the academy boundary for safety reasons) to practice starting a fire without matches or the help of a Fire-type dragon.

"Yeah," Drew complained a few feet away. "Professor Orchid taught us how last year in fifth year."

"Well it's always good to practice how once in a while," Professor Mercury snapped, glaring at the two boys. Then, he returned to what he had previously been saying. "Now, you'll be paired into groups of three while you're trying to make a spark…"

. . .

"Uh…so what are we supposed to do again?" Dawn asked, staring at the pile of sticks in front of her and the two pieces of flint in her hands. Of course, Professor Mercury just _had_ to put Dawn Berlitz, Gary Oak, and Drew Hayden in a group together.

"Simple, this," Gary said confidently. He held his two pieces of flint above the fire and hit them together at a sideways angle, just as Professor Mercury had shown them just minutes before. However, Gary didn't make a spark.

"What the…" His brow furrowed, and he hit the stones together again. Still, he couldn't get a spark to fly off them.

"Uh…do you know what you're doing?" Dawn asked meekly.

"Of course I do," Gary snapped, bashing the stones together with more force this time. Nothing happened.

So he tried again. _Bang._

Still zero sparks.

Again. _Clash._

Nada.

Again. _Bam._

Nope.

"Why is this so damn frustrating?!" Gary cried out, throwing the pieces of flint into the air.

"Having trouble, Oak?" a snide voice asked from behind the two. "It's just a simple little fire, you know."

Gary's head whipped around, his eyes narrowed. "Oh, like you could even actually start a fire, Hay… Whoa." He gawked at the enormous bonfire proudly blazing beside a smirking Drew.

"How did you even-!"

"Oh hey, look, Gary! I got mine started, too!" Dawn squealed, and Gary looked to see a small fire starting in the blunette's pile of twigs.

"Wow, a girl got a fire started before you, Oak. How lame," Drew taunted.

"Hey, I can start a fire!" Gary retorted. "Just watch me!" He grabbed his angrily thrown aside pieces of flint and hit them together, hoping for a spark.

Nothing.

* * *

"Okay, just one class left!" May cheerful exclaimed as she skipped alongside Leaf on their way to sixth period. The two friends had both fifth and sixth period – dragon care and aerial combat, respectively – together. Leaf rolled her eyes and looked up to where a silver dragon and a slightly smaller red dragon were lazily flying above them.

The silver dragon was, of course, Lithium, and the red, May's dragon, Alkali. The dragons had to be present during the dragon care class because it was in that class that Professor Vaziri taught the riders how to heal basic wounds on their dragons and other things like that. However, since aerial combat was a class in which riders had to fight on their dragons in the air (hence the name of the class) their dragons just followed them there.

Once Leaf and May reached the large field Professor Alida – the aerial combat instructor – held the class at, Lithium and Alkali descended from the sky and landed next to their riders.

Alkali was slightly smaller than Lithium and a female as well, with shiny red scales that coated her body and bright silver eyes like the color of the dragon next to her. She was a lot like May – often acting childish and playful.

More and more students began to arrive, their dragons descending from the skies in all different sizes, colors, and shapes. There were only about fifteen people in each class (since there were only around fifty sixth years) but when they were all gathered in one place with their dragons it seemed like a pretty big class.

Leaf waited calmly beside Lithium, watching as people arrived. She saw Misty and her Water-type dragon, Seltore – a wingless "serpent" dragon with dark blue scales and a lithe body frame, and was about to go talk to her when a shrill whistle came from above, catching her attention.

Everyone looked up to watch as Professor Alida descended towards the ground atop her dragon; a small female dragon named Astelia, who had extremely light – almost white – lavender scales.

Once Astelia was close enough to the ground, Professor Alida dramatically leaped off of her, doing a flip before landing safely on the ground. As Astelia landed behind her Professor Alida smiled at the assembled students and their dragons.

"Hello, hello," she said cheerfully. "Today we're going to have a mock battle between two of the students and their dragons. Any volunteers?"

May was instantly next to Leaf. "You should volunteer, Leaf," May said excitedly. "You and Lithium are _boss_ at aerial battles!"

"No, Lithium and I fight enough. Somebody else should get a chance to." Leaf shook her head, but smiled slightly at the compliment.

May pouted but that didn't seem to deter her, because a second later she grabbed Leaf's hand and stuck it up in the air. "Leaf volunteers as tribute!" the brunette exclaimed loudly, wildly waving her friend's hand around to catch the professor's attention.

Leaf's smile turned into an open mouth of shock. "Wait what-?"

"Oh goodie! Thank you for volunteering, Miss Leaf!" Professor Alida bounced up and down like a hyped May on steroids. "Let's see… No more volunteers? Okay then, Leaf, you'll fight…Paul!"

Leaf yanked her hand out of May's grip and glared at her before turning to look for her opponent.

Paul stood a good distance away with a scowl on his face, staring back at Leaf when she looked at him. Apparently, he didn't want to battle either – or at least, that's what his facial expression said. It was hard to tell with that scowl permanently etched on his face.

Next to him stood a large (large enough to rival Azreth in size, anyway) dark purple dragon, who – funnily enough – matched the color of his rider's hair color. His eyes glowed an eerie white color, making him look like he was dead. When Leaf looked closely, she noticed that Paul's dragon was partially transparent, too.

_Oh fun, a Ghost-type dragon,_ she thought sarcastically. Lithium rumbled her agreement.

Wordlessly, Leaf and Paul exchanged a glance, and turned at the same time and mounted their dragons. (How Paul can sit on a transparent dragon is still unknown.)

Leaf climbed up Lithium's wing and on to her back, where she sat down between two of the small spikes running down the dragon's spine close to her neck._ Ready, Lith?_ she asked.

_Ready._

Leaf nodded to Paul, and at the same time their dragons leaped into the air, their strong wings flapping up and down rhythmically to gain altitude. Once the two dragons and their riders reached a certain height, they stopped.

"Jarkor, standby for battle," Paul said to his dragon.

_Get ready to attack, Lithium._ "That's a funny way to start a battle, Shinji," Leaf mused aloud as Professor Alida and her dragon rose up to circle above the two dragons. Paul merely grunted as the professor spoke.

"Students, dragons, are you ready?" she yelled, and Leaf and Paul nodded, their eyes never straying from the other's. "Okay then ready…set…GO!"

As soon as the last word was out of Professor Alida's mouth both dragons jumped into action, circling each other as they waited for the other to attack.

"Jarkor, lunge for the dragon's neck!" Paul shouted loud enough for his dragon, and in addition, Leaf and Lithium, to hear above the roaring wind around them created by the dragons' beating wings.

_Bank sharply to the right._

The large ghost dragon lunged for Lithium's neck, jaws open wide, just like his rider had ordered, but at the last second Lithium swiftly ducked under and to the right of the other dragon, leaving him to bite empty air. Leaf clung on tightly to the spike in front of her as Lithium dipped before flying straight up and spinning around to face their opponents again.

_Now would be a good time to set up an illusion,_ Lithium advised as Jarkor spun around to growl at them.

_Yeah,_ Leaf agreed. _Go for it._

Concentrating her psychic powers, Lithium hid the real Leaf and Lithium behind a wall of energy while she created a fake in the place of them. Not seeing the real Lithium, Paul had Jarkor attack the fake silver dragon, who easily dodged the ghost dragon as gracefully as the real Lithium had.

_Let's circle around and catch them by surprise. Try to bite his tail, if you can._

_On it._ Slowly, Lithium and Leaf circled around so that they were hovering behind Paul and Jarkor, who were still fighting the fakes. Just as Jarkor managed to bite down on the fake Lithium's leg, shattering the illusion, the real Lithium lunged out from behind the psychic wall, aiming for the purple dragon's tail.

Lithium clamped down on Jarkor's tail, but to her shock her teeth sank right through it as if there was nothing there. Still, Jarkor roared in pain and lashed his tail from side to side until Lithium, confused, let go.

"Jarkor, create a ball of energy to hurtle at them!" Paul yelled, and the dragon instantly obeyed by opening his mouth and starting to form an orb of purplish-black energy. Once the sphere was large enough, Paul made a motion that was the order for Jarkor to release it. Jarkor threw back his head and then chucked the ball of energy at Lithium.

_Quick, fly left!_

Lithium banked to the left, barely avoiding getting hit by the dark purple orb; her wing almost getting clipped in the process.

_Lunge forward to make it look like a direct attack to the throat, but at the last second swing your tail around and hit him._

Lithium grunted but proceeded to attack, beating her wings up and down quickly to propel herself towards Jarkor and Paul. She opened her mouth wide to make it look like she was going to bite the purple beast – causing Paul to yell for him to duck under to avoid the attack – but at the last second she spun around and lashed out with her tail, nailing Jarkor in the stomach.

Said dragon was flung backward, letting out a roar, while his rider held on for dear life. Once Jarkor had righted himself and Paul was safely seated again, the plum-haired boy opened his mouth to issue another command.

"Let out a barrage of shadow-!"

The cry of a dragon cut off Paul, but it was not Lithium or Jarkor that had made the sound. It was a low, pained cry – not the battle cry of an attacking dragon. Leaf, Paul, and their dragons paused to look around.

Professor Alida, as well, was scanning the skies atop Astelia, and quickly spotted the source of the noise. "Oh my!" The professor let out a gasp.

Flying towards the academy (or more specifically, the field where aerial combat class was held) were a pair of dragons, both covered in horrible wounds. Torn wings, gashes oozing blood, and other wounds were just some of the things visible on them from a distance.

"You two, land right now," Professor Alida yelled at Leaf and Paul, and without even having to be told Lithium and Jarkor quickly descended.

"Oh my gosh, what's going on?" May asked, clutching on to Leaf's arm as soon as the brunette was off of her dragon.

"I don't know," Leaf murmured, her eyes locked on the wounded dragons as they came closer. Professor Alida flew up to meet them, and then gently guided them to the ground, where both dragons collapsed.

"Arceus, what happened?" Leaf could hear Professor Alida exclaim loudly, and spotted her helping a girl off of one of the dragons. The girl was a seventh year, and also heavily wounded. She grimaced as the professor lightly touched her arm.

"My partner and I were… Oh gosh… Josh! You have to help him first! He's unconscious right now!" the girl panted, her eyes bright with fear as she struggled to climb back on to her dragon.

"Now, now, dear, calm down. Misty, Paul, get Josh!" Professor Alida said, and the two came forward. They quickly ascended the dragon, and appeared a moment later supporting the boy, "Josh", between them.

"Take him to the medical ward, and fast," Professor Alida murmured after examining Josh once Misty and Paul had gently laid him on the ground. "He's lost a lot of blood, and if he loses much more he's a goner."

Misty and Paul nodded before carefully lifting the boy up again and heading towards the medical ward as fast as they could without worsening Josh's wounds even more. Leaf watched them go as Professor Alida tried to calm the now blubbering girl, who was crying after hearing what the professor had said about her partner.

"Dear, you have to calm down," Professor Alida said softly. "Please tell me what happened."

"M-my p-partner and I…we were…coming back from mission…ambushed…s-soldiers," she sobbed. "I-it was near the academy, j-just over there." She pointed towards the forest to the west of the academy, not far from where the magical barrier was located around the school. "T-they can out of nowhere…we…we couldn't…"

"There, there, that's enough," Professor Alida soothed. "Thank you." She looked up. "Leaf, can you escort her to the medical ward? It wouldn't be good if any of her wounds got infected."

Leaf nodded and silently pulled her arm out of May's grip, who had a completely horrified expression on her face after watching everything that had just occurred in front of her. The green-eyed brunette took the girl from Professor Alida, and slowly began to walk with her towards the medical ward.

As she supported the sobbing girl, Leaf wondered why the king's soldiers would be so close to the camp. Sure, the magical barrier prevented them from actually _finding_ the academy, but what if they knew it was here?

What would that mean for the academy?

* * *

Okay, so that was chapter 4, in which Gary gets beat up by girls twice and can't start a fire, Apheleia and I can't make up a stupid question for Dawn to ask, Leaf and Paul fight in an aerial battle, and S*** GETS SERIOUS.

Thanks for reading a please drop a review below, if you could. ;)

(Oh, and also, sorry for there not being any Contestshipping in this chapter at all you guys, but when I was writing I noticed that on the class schedules for the characters that Apheleia made, May and Drew weren't in ANY classes together! D: Next chapter will have some, I promise!)

-AquaStarlight


	5. Chapter 5

Leaf made her way down to the main courtyard, where all sixth years had been told to assemble that morning. Lithium followed her overhead, each beat of her wings slightly rustling the grasses on the ground.

A small congregation of butterflies fluttered in the brunette's stomach despite the brunette's continued denial of being, in any way, excited or nervous for this. Or maybe it was just butterflies from loathing, however that worked – yeah, that's what it was – because who in their right mind would actually want to work with Gary Oak. Right?

Leaf wrestled with her thoughts as she stepped down the flight of stone stairs that led into the main courtyard directly behind the academic building. It was a pleasant place – simple yet wonderful. A concrete path wove around the ground, and coarse blankets of wild grass grew wherever they could. Benches, bushes, and trees grew here and there, and a marble fountain stood in the middle in all its glory.

It seemed as if most of the grade had already arrived, and most of them had broken off into cliques to converse. Many seemed to be with their partners and eagerly discussing the events that would surely soon follow.

"Leaf!"

The said brunette's head snapped up at the sound of her name, and wasn't surprised to find that the perpetrator had been May. A smile split across her face, and she quickly made her way over to the other brunette. "Hey, May," she greeted. "Drew," she added, upon noticing the chartreuse-haired boy standing next to May.

Drew nodded slightly, giving indication to his acknowledgement of her.

"What's up?" asked Leaf.

May shrugged and shook her head. "Not much, really. Not everybody's here yet, so in the meantime, they told us to try to find our partners. Where's Gary?"

A small groan escaped Leaf. "I don't know, and I'm not sure I _want_ to know…"

"That kind of hurts, Green. I thought we were partners, you know," drawled a voice from behind Leaf.

Leaf whirled, though she already had a very good idea of who the newcomer was. "Gary," she spat, as if the name itself were venom.

A sneer was implanted on Gary's face, as always. "And _top of the morning_ to you, too."

Leaf scowled. This guy… She ignored him, and turned back to May and Drew so that her back was, once again, facing Gary.

May's mouth twitched in amusement. Perhaps Leaf herself just couldn't see it, but there was certainly something there…

"When're they going to start the missions?" asked Leaf, now irritated because of the simple fact of Gary's presence.

Drew shrugged. "Probably soon."

"Good, the faster this is over and I don't have to see _him-_" said Leaf, jerking a thumb towards the brunet behind her, "-anymore… the better."

Behind her, Gary rolled his eyes.

May was about to open her mouth and say something that probably would've irritated Leaf even further, but the brunette was cut off by a sudden low, booming growl, unmistakably that of a dragon's for attention.

All four of them turned their attention to the source of the sound; a small, nearly white dragon whom Leaf recognized as Astelia. Next to her was her Rider, Professor Alida. The young professor beamed at the sixth year students, pleased that she had captured their attention. Next to her stood Professor Amelian, who had his own bulky, silver Steel dragon by his side. In his hands were a collection of envelopes that seemed to be sealed with the school's crest.

Leaf eyed the stack in Professor Amelian's hands before turning her attention back to Professor Alida, who had begun to speak as the rest of the courtyard shushed.

"Good morning, sixth year," she began brightly. "I'm sure all of you know what we are gathered here today for – your first missions."

"You will have a time limit of until sunset, though we sincerely doubt that any of your missions will force you to take nearly as long," said Professor Amelian. "If any pair isn't back by nightfall, we will send out a search party for you. None of the missions will require you to go farther than a one-mile radius of campus. Please act responsibly, and keep a very high alert on your surroundings," he said sharply.

Leaf's heart accelerated, and she nervously shifted her weight from her left to her right foot. She knew he was referring to the incident of the two mauled seventh years yesterday. News had traveled quickly throughout the school, and many students had been quietly speculating the matter since yesterday afternoon.

"If you, your partner, or your dragons are in any danger, instruct your dragons to send up sparks," continued Professor Alida. "If the situation happens such that your dragons are incapable to perform such an action, then shout. If shouting turns out to be inappropriate for your situation, rip your necklace off. Magic that we have infused into the chains will inform us of the action, and we can track you to the location of your pendant."

Professor Amelian nodded in agreement. "And with that, I have in my hands your assignments." He flashed a charming grin. "When you and your partner's names are called, come up here to receive your mission." Professor Amelian then cut the stack in half and passed the other dozen or so to Professor Alida.

"Serenity Asphalt, Jeremiah Blaze," she called.

A pretty blonde and lanky brunet made their way up to the two professors, slightly startled. They accepted their envelope, tore it open, extracted a folded piece of paper, and hurriedly read it. A grin split over Serenity's face, though Jeremiah groaned. Professor Amelian watched them in amusement and ushered them along, telling them and the rest of the grade, "Once you receive your missions, you may leave immediately."

Once Serenity had happily skipped out of the courtyard and out of their view (and dragging a moping Jeremiah behind her), Professor Amelian called out the next pair. "Leaf Green, Gary Oak."

With a start, Leaf realized that was her. Not even bothering to make sure Gary was following, she swiftly made her way up to Professor Amelian, zigzagging through people in her way as she did so.

She accepted the envelope that Professor Amelian was holding out in his hand. The envelope was moderately-sized, and bore her and Gary's names on the front in intricate lettering. Flipping it over to the other side, she tore open the seal, pulled out the paper inside, unfolded it, and began reading with Gary peering over her shoulder.

_Ms. Leaf Green and Mr. Gary Oak,_

_ Your mission is to acquire an entire growth of dittany for our medical ward. A picture is enclosed. A reminder that you may not traverse farther than one mile away from academy grounds._

_Best of luck,_

_The staff of Savoir Faire Academy_

Leaf flipped the letter onto its backside, where a paperclip attached a small picture of the so-called dittany. In the picture was a small bush of grey-green leaves and tangles. It had slender, flexible stems that were weighed down by leaves coated with a white down of sorts, and tiny lilac flowers were occasionally found.

Leaf knew the plant, the nurse had given it to her back in fourth year because of a few particularly nasty gashes she had acquired from a Ground Combat match against Misty. The nurse had given it to her in a liquid form, and the essence's effect was magical for her wounds. The injuries had, very impressively, healed in less than two days. They hadn't even scarred.

Leaf also knew that dittany was a rarity.

The brunette pursed her lips, recalling what Professor Dippet had told her about her and Gary purposefully being one of the best partnerships. Perhaps it was a test… Surely, first missions shouldn't be _this _difficult.

She looked up at Professor Amelian, and she supposed her eyes must've shown some kind of fear, for the male professor then looked back at her with a sympathetic and reassuring smile. He silently mouthed "good luck".

Nodding slightly, Leaf folded up the letter and stuck it into her pocket. She then turned and left in the same direction as Serenity and Jeremiah had. Behind her, she heard Gary's footsteps.

* * *

They found Azreth and Lithium in front of the school's front entrance pawing at random patches of coarse ground. The two dragons' heads perked up when they heard the quickly advancing steps of their Riders.

Leaf swiftly made her way to Lithium's left side, and in a fluid motion, hoisted one foot into the left stirrup and swung her other leg over the width of Lithium's backside. Some five yards away, Gary did the same on Azreth.

Beneath her, Leaf felt Lithium shiver a little. By now, the brunette had learned that it was the dragon's way of loosening and warming up her muscles, something the beast did whenever she could before a flight.

"Well?" came Gary's voice from Leaf's right. Her head turned to look at him. "Got any idea of where to look for dittany?"

Leaf frowned slightly. "It's rare."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," said Gary, sneering slightly. Leaf's scowl immediately deepened.

_Let's go, Lith. Forest outskirts, _Leaf told Lithium, ignoring Gary.

_ Ay ay, _Captain_._

Despite her anger, Leaf still chuckled – quietly, of course, so that it was out of earshot of Gary. The brunette held on as they bounded down the short expanse of flat terrain that surrounded the academy. A few short seconds later, they were hurtling down the side of the mountain, letting gravity took over. The sharp wind was rather exhilarating as it tore through Leaf's hair.

Some ten or fifteen seconds later, Lithium's wings fanned out, creating enough drag for them to slow to an easy descent. They landed with a soft thud right outside the perimeter of a seemingly endless wave of trees.

A moment later, though, Leaf and Lithium heard the other two land with something more resembling of a _boom_.

Leaf casually craned her head around Lithium to bemusedly watch the flustered dragon and writhing boy on the ground. "Interesting, Professor Alida hasn't taught us _that_ landing, yet."

Gary scowled. "Funny, Green," he muttered.

"My pleasure," replied Leaf nonchalantly as she descended Lithium with considerably more grace than Gary had Azreth. Landing softly on her feet, she said, "Let's go in."

* * *

May glared at the scene around her, though the action was pretty futile. Next to her was Drew. Alkali and Firroth, Drew's moderately-sized emerald Grass dragon, floated lazily a few dozen yards above ground.

In her right hand, May clutched the letter, though she had already memorized its contents.

_Ms. May Maple and Mr. Drew Hayden, _

_Your mission is to travel down to the plains that are approximately half a mile beneath campus and herd the livestock to their next feeding field. Accomplish it before twilight._

_Best of luck,_

_The staff of Savoir Faire Academy_

Okay, so it was the first mission, and she hadn't been expecting anything awesome, like… something Vesuvius-related, or rescuing someone from the pits of a volcano, or staking out a secret, mysterious cave. And actually, when they first read the letter, May was okay with it. In any case, herding livestock wouldn't be too difficult of a job, right? Especially not when they had their dragons, too.

But something about finding out that "livestock" only meant sheep made May feel slightly affronted. (Also, what would she tell Leaf later? "Uh, yeah, our mission was to herd sheep." Cue inevitable sarcasm and snorts from Leaf.)

Okay, that was still alright, May'd thought as they descended and found that the only animals in sight were the short fluffy creatures… At least they'd be done with it soon, right?

Wrong.

The little buggers had refused to move for over an hour now. It didn't matter what May and Drew did… shove them, try to pick them up, even get their dragons to come try to nudge them.

The sheep just_ didn't move._

They just _stood _there, with _blank, bored _faces, and constantly moving their jaws as they chewed grass.

Like, seriously. May didn't think she'd seen even one sheep move a muscle that was not their mouth or neck. They just stood and ate in one place. Each sheep was surrounded by a small and balding space of land.

_These stupid sheep-_

"Let's just breathe fire at them," muttered Drew, his face in his hands.

"No! We can't do that," insisted May, though by this point, she very much wanted to. "It's probably a test or something… Or… I don't know…"

Drew snorted. "Yeah, right. It's not like we're an exceptionally talented pair or anything, unlike Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum_._"

May rolled her eyes. "Gary's Tweedle-dum, right?" She paused for a moment, and her lips twitched. "With a 'b' at the end, too?"

Drew smirked. "Obviously."

May cracked a smile. Then she sighed. "If only we had something like fire, but not really…"

Drew arched an eyebrow. "Wow, May. That sounded _so_ smart-"

But he was cut off by a loud clap from the brunette, who was suddenly standing up upright. Her eyes were bright with excitement and revelation. "Drew, I got it!"

"Got what-"

But he was cut off once more by, "Firroth! Firroth should manipulate the grass that they're eating so that it kind of... startles them. Then they'll start moving and then we can direct them!"

The way she said it sounded ridiculous. But still, it was worth a shot, thought Drew, shrugging. "Firroth, you heard what she said," he said, loudly enough so that the viridian dragon could hear him.

From above, the dragon nodded and stilled as he began concentrating on the land underneath the sheep.

Suddenly, the blades of grass underneath the animals began moving and twisting violently. Some even lashed out at some of the sheep, who jumped with a start.

May and Drew exchanged delighted glances. Drew even silently punched the air as he mouthed "Yes!"

Startled, dozens of pairs of sheep eyes widened. Suddenly, a herd of stampeding sheep were heading in the direction of the two teenagers.

Their grins faltering, May and Drew once again exchanged glances, but this time, they were shocked and terrified. Before they could call for their dragons to sweep them to safety, May's side was promptly rammed by a sheep who "baaa!"ed, annoyed by the obstacle in its course to safety.

A small cry escaped May's lips as the brunette stumbled. She struggled to regain her balance and escape the rest of the advancing herd before they got to her as well. But the push had been too strong, and she felt herself falling to the ground. Surely, now, the mass of sheep would step all over her with their little hooves.

_Death by sheep_, she thought wryly. _How embarrassing._

Squeezing her eyes shut, she braced for the worst, but it never came. Instead of intense trampling all over her body, she instead felt the firm pressures of a hand on her wrist and an arm around her waist that had presumably pulled her into safety.

May waited a few moments, but no sheep-induced pain came. Daring to flutter open her eyes, she found herself on top of Drew's body and staring at his slightly grass-stained white collared shirt that opened into his collarbones (by the work of a few undone buttons) and partner pendant…

For a moment, May was in shock, still processing that she _hadn't_ died from death by sheep! Hallelujah!

...Then she realized the position they were in.

Drew was flat on his back, his eyes staring upwards and away from the brunette as his chest heaved from some slight panting. Her own body was flat against his. His right arm was still protectively hugging her waist, and as she peered up at him, she couldn't help but blush a bit at their situation.

He then chose that moment to look down and cast his eyes to meet hers. In them, she found honest relief. "Arceus, May," he whispered. After a few more heavy breaths, his brow furrowed slightly, and he continued, "You okay?"

"Y-yeah," she murmured, raising herself off of him. His arm slid off her as she did so. "Thanks…"

"Couldn't survive a day without me, can you?" he taunted lightly, his breathing now back to normal. Still in a starfish position on the ground, he tilted his head to smirk at her.

May responded with a stubborn scowl. "Can, too!"

"Evidently, and that's why you almost got trampled by rampaging sheep," he drawled cockily.

The brunette scowled. "Think what you want." Then, her voice lowered. "…But thanks," she muttered, quickly turning her back to him so Drew wouldn't see the pink beginning to overtake her face. She couldn't see him, but she assumed something close to a smirk had replanted itself onto his face. "Now, are you going to just lay there or help me herd the rest of the sheep?" she said with as much confidence and cockiness as she had left to muster.

But in reality, May Maple didn't know Drew Hayden as well as she thought she did. If she had remained facing him, she would've seen the genuine smile that curved his mouth right before he coolly replied, "Sure," and not a smirk like she assumed it'd been.

* * *

Leaf, Gary, Lithium, and Alkali trudged along the forest floor, weaving around trees and large foliage, the former two in front of the silent latter two. It was only an hour before sundown now, and they _still_ hadn't found any trace of anything that resembled the dittany in the picture. They'd turned over rocks, searched inside bushes, kept out an excruciatingly careful watch...

Vexing, indeed.

Leaf released an aggravated groan. She aimed a kick at the trunk of a thick tree they were passing, her foot protected by her boot.

"This_ stupid _plant!" she all but growled at nobody in particular. "_Stupid_ mission, _stupid _school, _stupid _war…"

"Anger management?" commented Gary dryly from behind her.

"_-stupid_ partner…"

Leaf heard Gary sigh. By now, he had to have been just as tired and irritable as her, even if he was a bit more reserved about it, she reasoned. "If we don't find it within the next…half-hour, want to just go back?" he said.

Leaf gritted her teeth. She hated failing... but she replied, "I don't see how we have a choice anyways."

She heard the light rustle of the fabric of his clothes as he shrugged. There was a pause. Then, "So, heard any gossip lately?"

Leaf's eyes flashed. Seriously? He was going to bring up _gossip_ now, of all times? _Really? _"You've got to be kidding me, Gary," she seethed.

"Not really. So, Ash and Misty?"

"What about them?" said Leaf curtly.

"Kind of cute, aren't they?" he said casually.

Leaf swiveled her head to look at him. His hands were stuck in his pockets, and he was absentmindedly staring at the ground in front of him, his face relaxed. Upon noticing her turning her head, though, he looked up and met her quizzical eyes. "What're you implying?" she said slowly.

He shrugged. "They like each other, don't they? Both?"

"They're not together," Leaf deadpanned.

"Well, yeah," said Gary. "It's not like anybody's actually got time for stuff like that."

"You do."

"Thinly veiled accusation?"

"Outright not-at-all-veiled accusation."

Gary smirked. "Are you the next one?"

Leaf scowled. "In your dreams."

"Oh, Green, if only you knew what my dreams are like," he drawled with a suggestive wink and a freshly grown smirk.

Rolling her eyes, Leaf turned her head back around so she could actually see where she was going.

"But yeah," he said.

" 'Yeah' what?"

"Love is pretty useless, isn't it?" he said quietly.

The sudden solemnity in his tone almost made Leaf stop in her tracks and look back to stare at him for a good long minute so she could attempt to ascertain just_ where_ exactly that comment had come from.

But she didn't, for that would've made it seem like Leaf was interested in something Gary Oak did.

But she was still a curious girl, so she glanced back at him with the intent of giving him a quick study.

She hadn't expected him to have been looking back at her so steadily, though.

And she _definitely_ hadn't expected the sudden steely glint that was now in his eyes, a seriousness that was uncharacteristic of the cocky, rude Gary Oak she knew…

Taken aback, she quickly whipped her head back around. She hoped Gary hadn't caught the shock and interest that had undoubtedly been in her eyes.

"…What do you mean?" she ventured after a pause.

"Two people who love each other would do pretty much anything for the other person… some would even give up their lives, wouldn't they? But it's inaccurate because we're human, and because of that, those feelings never stop changing… and before you know it, they've left and abandoned you with a hole in your heart," he said. Leaf could've sworn she detected a trace of bitterness in his words. "It's not our biological instinct to care for other people, either. We're still animals, and when it comes down to it, we only care about our own survival. Everyone else – if they still matter – comes after. Even now, you and I are paired up so we can get better at defending ourselves and, basically, take advantage of each other until we can survive on our own better than we would've before."

Leaf was silent. Aside from the crunching of the forest floor beneath their feet, everyone else was, too.

"How can you be so sure of that?" she challenged in a voice barely above a whisper.

His response was a bit delayed. "… I've seen it firsthand. People who would climb mountains for each other until one of them stabs the other in the back…"

He said something else, too, but Leaf hadn't been paying attention. She'd been captivated and held fast by something else he'd said.

_Climb mountains…_

Leaf froze. Abruptly, she stopped walking, realization dawning on her.

Gary studied her curiously as he crossed the three yards that had been between them the whole time. "What's got you?"

"Mountains… mountains… I just assumed we should've come to the forest because dittany was a plant... _Arceus_, I'm so stupid!" she yelled.

Gary was slightly taken aback. "Huh?"

"I'm an idiot," snarled Leaf as she turned and briskly walked to Lithium's side. "We've wasted so much time," she muttered as she swung herself over Lithium's back.

"Want to fill me in?" said Gary as he crossed a few feet and ascended Azreth in much the same way.

"Remember in History when Professor Eilian taught us about the ancient people?" said Leaf, already giving the cue for Lithium to begin ascent.

"Not really," admitted Gary. _Follow 'em, Azreth._

"They used dittany, too. Healing, fragrance, aphrodisiac, whatever… but people searched high and low for it, especially people in love. They saw dittany as… a romantic symbol. A lot died from climbing mountains, because for the most part, they were the only place where dittany grew…"

"Say no more."

* * *

Some forty-five minutes later, both Leaf and Gary were each holding an entire growth of dittany in one of their hands, the other on their dragons for balance. Lithium and Azreth flew slowly so as to avoid any potential mishaps. They were on their way back to the academy. In fact, the particular cliffs and familiar mountainous edges surrounding the campus were already in sight.

Once more, Leaf looked down at the small shrub in her hand and beamed. They hadn't had any pots – yeah, that was a pretty big miscalculation on their part – but at least they'd finally found the plant after about another half hour of mountainside scaling on Lithium and Azreth. It'd been way more trouble than it was worth (okay, maybe not, considering dittany was worth quite a bit), but Leaf just regretted that she hadn't recalled the History class and mountain tidbit earlier.

By the time they landed in Savoir Faire's main courtyard, the sky was already painted with streaks and dollops of mellow oranges, dark reds, and sweet yellows. After a quick scan of the courtyard, Leaf quickly found Professor Alida and Professor Amelian sitting together at a bench and talking animatedly, hardly noticing the oncoming Leaf and Gary until they were only a yard away.

When the teenagers were within distance, the two professors ceased conversation to look at the newcomers. Their mouths split into grins when they identified them, and their eyes showed blatant approval when they saw the dittany in Leaf and Gary's cupped hands.

"Well done, you two," said Professor Amelian appreciatively. He reached out an open palm for Leaf to place the plant in.

The brunette obliged, and Gary did the same with Professor Alida. "Thanks, Professor," said both teenagers wearily and simultaneously.

The professors chuckled. "Really, you two, excellent job," said Professor Alida, inspecting the dittany in her hand. "We haven't found much dittany around here lately, and for you two to have found _two _whole blooms…"

Leaf smiled tiredly. "Lucky us, then, because we weren't even looking in the right place until less than an hour ago."

Professor Alida looked up at her and smiled gently. "Go back to your dorms, you two, and freshen up. Dinner will be in an hour."

"Thank Arceus," muttered Gary. "Thanks, Professor," he said as he began walking away.

"See you later!" said Leaf before hurrying after Gary.

Professor Alida and Amelian watched the two go with bemused eyes. "They're cute, aren't they?" remarked Professor Alida fondly.

"Sure, but you're still more so," replied Professor Amelian coolly, his eyes still fixed on Leaf and Gary's retreating figures.

"Oh, shove off, Adrian."

* * *

"So…" began Leaf awkwardly on their trek back. Lithium and Azreth had just flown away and gone to the cove in search of their dinner for the night, and Leaf was already missing their presences.

"Good job today," said Gary smoothly. In one swift motion, he turned and stepped in front of Leaf so that he was cutting her off and the two were now facing each other. One of his hands was coolly stuck in its corresponding pocket, the other was relaxed by his side.

Leaf peered up at him, confused. "What?"

"Well… today was a pretty good first mission, and I thought I'd commemorate it a bit for you," he said casually, pulling something out of his pocket with his previously buried hand.

Leaf watched with interest as he pulled… whatever it was, out of his pants pocket. She then watched him gently toss the item to her, and she caught it with relative ease. It was a small silvery charm that was round at the top and flared out a bit, but it curved in the middle and thinned out towards the bottom.

"Attach it to your pendant. It's supposed to look like a shooting star...or something."

Speechless, she looked up again, her mouth open and poised to say something (though she had no idea what), but all she saw was Gary's back. He'd already turned and begun walking away…

And so her mouth closed without uttering a single word of thanks. Where'd he even get this? she wondered. Leaf stood and watched, transfixed in her confusion, as he sauntered over to the door of his dorm, running a lazy hand through his hair as he did so. He went in without so much as another look at Leaf.

Once he was officially out of her sight, Leaf's shock slowly melted away and the corner of her lips quirked upwards.

Maybe, just maybe...he was actually sometimes tolerable.

* * *

The sheep.. no, they're not possessed. xD If you've seen the movie How To Train Your Dragon, then THOSE are the sheep that I had in mind while writing that scene, with the whole half-lidded eyes, bored expression, and constant grass chewing xD

OMG WHAT ARE THESE THINGS CALLED SHIPPY MOMENTS? ;))

..reviews are lurved :)

-Apheleia


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 6_

"May, what the hell is this?"

Said sapphire-eyed brunette grinned widely and exclaimed, "It's a poster for the winter dance that's coming up!"

Leaf stared blankly at the poster May had shoved in her face a minute earlier, wondering why May had decided to show this to her at _three o'clock _in the _morning_. Leaf sighed and gently put the poster down next to her without looking at it. "And _why_ do you think I need to know about it?"

May didn't skip a beat. "Because we're going, obviously."

Leaf glared at her through her half-lidded eyes. "I hate dances. You know that, May."

"But Leaf," May whined, "we're already in our sixth year and you haven't gone to a _single_ dance before."

"And I don't plan on ever going to one," Leaf grumbled as she pulled her bed sheets over her head. "Go back to your dorm and let me sleep, May. It's the middle of the night."

"Not until you say you'll go to the dance," May stubbornly refused.

Leaf moaned. "Don't you have more important things to be thinking about? Like, oh, I don't know, maybe how you're _failing _history?"

"It's not my fault Professor Eilian is a boring teacher," May huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyways, that's not the point! You have to go to the dance this year, Leaf!"

"If I say yes will you let me sleep?"

"Yes."

"Then fine, I'll go. Now get out."

* * *

The next morning, after waking up from a mildly bad night's sleep (no thanks to May), Leaf decided to take a closer look at the poster about the dance that May had left in her room last night. She figured that she might as well, considering that she _had_ promised May she would go – and because May would beat the crap out of her if she _didn't_ go.

Regardless, Leaf picked up the discarded and slightly crumpled paper off the floor of her dorm room and smoothed it out as her eyes skimmed along the words.

"30th Annual Winter Dance… On December 25th… Must have a partner to attend… Will be in the auditorium…" Leaf muttered important pieces of information off of the poster as she read them. Suddenly, she did a double take on the words. "W-wait, _what_? P-partner?" Leaf spluttered, certain that if she had been drinking something at the moment she would have sprayed it everywhere. "We have to have a _partner_ to attend? Like a…date?"

Leaf sat there in silence for a long time.

"MAY!" she roared, leaping to her feet and surging for the door. "DAMN IT, DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?"

* * *

"We have to have a date for the dance?" May questioned, absentmindedly chewing on a piece of candy. She tilted her head to the side. "Where did you hear that?"

"It says right here on the poster, May," Leaf spat, shoving the poster into her friend's face. Once the brunette took it from her hands to stare at it Leaf slapped her palm against her forehead. "I can't believe I let you talk me into going," she moaned. "Why did I say yes, again?"

"Because you wanted to sleep, that's why," May cheerily reminded her as she put the poster down. "Anyways," she shrugged, "it looks like we're just going to have to get dates to the dance now. But-" She grinned cheekily. "-that shouldn't be too hard, should it? Especially with our looks."

Leaf eyed May warily. "…What do you mean by that?"

"I just mean that we are so smexilicious that nobody could resist us," May said with a laugh.

Leaf's mouth twitched. "You made up that word, didn't you?" she asked, holding back a smile.

May simply grinned. "But now!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger in the air. "We need to go find dates to the dance!"

"Correction, _you_ need to find a date to the dance. Green's going with me."

"Eh…E-EH?" Leaf jumped in surprise when an arm wrapped around her shoulders, and her head snapped up only to be met with a pair of brown eyes staring down at her. A pair of brown eyes on a head with spiky hair. "G-Gary?" she gasped, abruptly shoving the brunet away. "Arceus, haven't I told you not to appear out of nowhe- wait. Did you just say that _I'm _going to the dance with _you_?"

"Yep," Gary casually replied, and upon seeing her revolted expression added, "Didn't you know that it's tradition for partners to go together? Why else would I ask _you_ out?" He shrugged, giving her a sideways glance. "If it weren't for tradition I'd have gone with someone else. You're the _last_ person I'd ask."

Leaf's eye twitched. "Are you saying that I'm not good enough for you, Oak?"

He turned to face her, eyes lighting up. "Did you _want_ to be good enough for me?" he smirked. "My, my, Green, if only I had known you were secretly yearning for me all this time…"

"Shut up!" Leaf growled, elbowing him in the gut. "Going out with you would be as terrible as having to work for Vesuviu-!"

"Wait, we have to go to this dance with our partner?" May suddenly wailed, and the two arguing partners turned to look at her, having forgotten about her presence. "_I _have to go with _Hayden_? NOOOOOOOO!" she cried, turning and sprinting in the other direction. "ANYTHING BUT HAVING TO GO WITH HAAAAYDEEEeeeen…"

Leaf and Gary watched the brunette run away, having forgotten about their earlier argument. "Your friend is…really weird," Gary commented once May was out of sight, slowly turning to face Leaf.

"Tell me about it," Leaf sighed, face-palming herself.

They stood there in silence for a long time. "You know…" Gary finally spoke, looking at the brunette next to him. "…about the dance…"

"I'm not going with you."

"Green, you're going with me. That's final. Just wear something nice so I don't look like a complete fool with you…"

Leaf glared at him. "Don't I get a say in this?"

Gary smirked down at her. "Nope."

"What if I stand you up?"

"Stand me up?" Gary snorted. "Then I'll hunt you down and drag you there."

"But what if I want to go with someone else?"

"I'll hunt them down and _then _drag you there."

Leaf looked at Gary. "…Possessive, much?"

Gary shrugged. "Only because it's you."

Leaf scowled at him and then turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. A minute passed and Leaf awkwardly kicked at the ground, waiting for one of them to speak.

"So…" Gary hesitantly began. "Pick you up at seven, then?"

* * *

May ran about a mile before she finally stopped, wheezing like a dragon with a cold.

_You have to go with your partner to the dance? But then me…and Drew…_ May thought as she stood there and tried to catch her breath, hands on her knees.

"June? Why do you look like you just ran a mile?"

May spun around, only to see her _favorite _grass-headed partner. Note the sarcasm. "Because I _did_," May huffed. "And my name is _May_, cabbage head."

"Really? I thought it was January." Drew shrugged. "Sorry, July."

"That's… You're… YOU'RE NOT EVEN SAYING THE SAME THING!"

"Whatever. Hey, did you hear about that dance they're having a few days from now?" Drew asked, and May froze.

"D-dance?" May stuttered. "Dance? What dance? I never heard about a dance." She laughed nervously. "W-why? What about it?"

"Apparently it's tradition to go with your partner, or something like that…"

"O-Oh r-really? D-do you plan on…going…?"

Drew shrugged again, and flicked his hair. "I'm not sure yet. Why?"

"N-no reason." May looked behind her, and then down at her wrist. "O-Oh, look at the time! I have to go to, um… art class! For a… um… extra credit project! Y-yeah, an extra credit project! W-well, see ya!"

And with that May turned and ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Drew stared after her, confused.

"The idiot wasn't even wearing a watch…"

After a moment he closed his eyes and smirked, flicking his hair. "Tch."

* * *

_I'm glad we have the day off, huh, Lith?_

_Day off? _Leaf could imagine her dragon snort as she said this. _What are you talking about, human? Don't you have classes today?_

_Not important ones._

Lithium sighed. _You really _are_ going to fail if you keep skipping classes._

_Ah, whatever. My grades are fine right now._ Leaf closed her eyes and relaxed, placing her hands behind her head. She was on her little cliff again, at the edge of the school. She needed time away from her classes – from everything, really.

"Ah, why did I have to promise May I would go to the dance?" Leaf complained out loud. "Now I'm stuck going with that dumb Oak…"

_Dance? What dance?_ Lithium asked, and Leaf realized that she hadn't told her dragon about it yet.

_The winter dance,_ Leaf said, and went on to tell her everything from how she had promised May she would go to the dance to Gary declaring that they were going together.

_You're going to a dance_ _with the rider of that obnoxious black beast?_ Lithium snorted with laughter, and Leaf received an image of her dragon literally rolling around in the grass laughing her tail off while a few dragons around her stared at the silver dragon like she was insane (said "obnoxious black beast" included).

_Done laughing yet?_ an irritated Leaf asked after a minute of listening to her dragon roar with laughter.

Lithium's laughter turned into small chuckles and finally faded out. _Sorry, love. The image of pretty little you in a dress next to that spiky-haired child is just too funny. I couldn't help it._

_What a great friend you are._ Leaf sat up from where she had been lying in the grass and turned to look in the direction of the academy. _Well, anyways, I think I should be getting back to the academy now. It's probably almost lunch time._

The brunette got up and dusted off her skirt before turning and nimbly scaling her way up the slope from her tiny cliff to the plain that the academy rested on. Once she reached the top she set off towards the academy, skillfully making her way through the academy's barriers without being detected.

As she entered the main courtyard of the school, she felt triumphant upon seeing all of her few students milling about on their break, just as she had predicted. Suddenly feeling more energized, she straightened out her uniform again before walking off to find May, scouting the courtyard for her.

Leaf was walking down one of the concrete paths winding through the school as she searched for her friend when a shout of her name from behind her made her stop and look behind her.

Jogging up to her were three boys, all of which were in her grade and she knew fairly well. The one that had called out to her, though, was the boy in the middle, who skidded to a stop in front of her.

Fire Red, possibly one of the cutest boys in the entire academy. He had brown hair and red eyes, which always had a cheerful look in them. To be honest, Leaf kind of liked him – she even had a crush on him in third year, but it had died out since then.

"Hey Fire," Leaf greeted, turning to face him.

Fire smiled nervously in return, and after a slight nudge from one of his friends replied, "H-hi, Leaf." That was another thing about Fire: he was cute, but he didn't like to talk much.

"Did you need something?" Leaf asked.

"Uhh, yeah," he answered, his eyes darting away. One of his friends nudged him again and Fire looked at him before turning back to Leaf. "S-so you heard about the dance, right?" Leaf nodded. "W-well, I was wondering if…you wanted to g-go with me?"

"Huh?" Leaf's mind blanked out for a moment; somebody was asking_ her_ out to the dance? She never expected anyone to, but… _But I can get out of going with Gary with this! And I kind of do still like Fire, so this is great!_ she gleefully realized, and opened her mouth to say yes. "O-."

"-ak. Oak. She's going with me, duh." A voice cut in from behind her, and Leaf nearly screamed in frustration as Gary walked up to them and wrapped his arm around Leaf's shoulders. Fire and his friends visibly backed down and looked at each other as Gary smirked. Leaf was quick to deny the claim before Fire ran away.

"No, we're _not_ going together," she denied, pushing Gary's arm off of her. "Sure I'll go with you, Fire."

"And when she says 'sure I'll go with you' what she really means is 'no I won't go with you'," Gary helpfully supplied, and then grabbed Leaf's hand. "Well, see ya later, Red. Come on Green, let's go."

"Wait, what? No!" Leaf exclaimed, but Gary was already dragging her away. Leaf valiantly tried to free her wrist from Gary, but it seemed that he had a grip that rivaled a Steel-type dragon's, and in the end she surrendered and let him drag her away.

"Let go of me, you…you…porcupine!"

* * *

May tightened her hand into a fist. She was going to do it, she really was. She had spent the last hour and a half thinking really hard about it, and decided that she was going to ask Drew out to the dance.

But only because of the tradition, of course.

"Drew!" she yelled when she spotted his green head walking ahead of her. "Wait up!" Drew stopped and looked behind him, allowing for May to catch up to him.

"Hey June, you need something?" he asked.

May decided to let him calling her the wrong name slide just this once. "Er… yeah, actually, I do. So you know how it's… pretty common for partners to go to the dance together?"

Drew blinked. "...Yeah."

May looked down, shuffling her feet awkwardly. "Well… I was think-."

"DAMN IT, GARY. STOP IT YOU'RE BEING OVERPOSSESSIVE." Leaf marched past, a snickering Gary following her. May and Drew stopped talking and turned to watch.

"C'mon, Leaf, just go with the flow," he said. "Plus," he added a second later, laughing again, "did you see the look on Fire's face when I walked up? That was hilarious!"

"Do I look like I care?" Leaf stopped walking and turned to glare at him. "What if I wanted to go with him?"

"You know you'll end up going with me anyways, so why does it matter?"

Leaf threw her hands up into the air. She screamed something illegible and walked away, Gary following after pausing to smirk and laugh.

Once they were gone May and Drew looked at each other; the latter waiting for the former to speak. May sheepishly grinned and scratched the back of her head. "So, ahh… I was thinking we should… er… have another practice session or something this weekend before the dance! You know, sparring and fighting with our dragons and stuff!" She let out an awkward laugh. "Ahahaha okay bye."

And then May turned and ran.

* * *

AHHHH I'M SO SORRY THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED LAST FRIDAY AND NOW IT'S SUNDAY. ;A; THIS WASN'T EVEN THAT HARD TO WRITE EITHER, I WAS JUST LAZY AND NEVER GOT AROUND TO DOING IT.

ALL MY APOLOGIES. ;A;

Anyways, now that that's over and done with, you can thank Apheleia for coming up with all of these hilarious scenes while we were discussing this chapter, although she says I'm a genius because I'm "the one who tied it all together and turned it into literature", according to her. Still, thank you Apheleia. :) This chapter was more of a filler than anything (and kind of the next one too, before the plot picks up), though.

Also, late Merry Christmas/Happy New Years and whatever else you celebrate! /is a week late :'3

-AquaStarlight


	7. Chapter 7

She scowled.

It'd been Gary's idea to "pick her up", and even though it was romantic in some sort of gentlemanly (an adverb that in no way described the usual Gary Oak) way, it was completely unnecessary. Besides, Darkness Ridge was closer to the academic building than Aged Chamber, anyways. He'd just be making a longer, roundabout trek to get to her dorm first. When Leaf had pointed this out, all she'd gotten in response was a nonchalant shrug and another (mocking) reminder to wear something nice.

Like she didn't already know that.

So Leaf had given up and caved in. She knew Gary was going to be as stubborn a male as any, and wordlessly going against him would only result in unnecessary confusion and annoyances later on.

And so here she was, waiting and watching the second leg of the clock with a steely gaze. It was 6:59, and he had thirteen seconds until seven o'clock sharp. If he wasn't here by seven _on the dot_, Leaf was going to march out and leave.

Twelve. Eleven. Ten.

_He'll be late._

Nine. Eight. Seven.

_He's not coming._

Six. Five-

Suddenly, Leaf felt her pendant begin to vibrate softly, the way it always did when Gary or Azreth were near. A small smile made its way onto her lips.

Four.

Footsteps up the wooden porch of her dorm.

Three.

The steps paused.

Two.

A rustle of fabric.

One.

A knocking on the door.

Time.

The door immediately swung open, and Leaf was met with the sight of Gary in all his smirking glory.

Okay, not _all _of his glory. More like whatever glory he could obtain from a black blazer, messily spiked hair (that was clearly no different from his hairstyle everyday), and the black slacks, white button-down shirt and dark tie from his uniform.

"You're late," said Leaf disdainfully, stepping out of the confines of her dorm building and shutting the door behind her.

"On the contrary, I'm literally right on time."

"I was waiting for twenty minutes," muttered Leaf.

"You didn't have to be _that_ excited," he chuckled, a smirk already growing on his face. When Leaf opened her mouth to make some sort of retort, he easily cut her off with, "We should get going," as his eyes flickered down to study Leaf's outfit for a brief moment before coming back up to her face.

Having noticed his glance, Leaf suddenly felt a bit self-conscious and she found her own eyes giving her outfit a quick peek as well. The length of her dress barely grazed the floor, and the fabric itself was a light silver, cascading in waves. The only splash of color to be found was the bit around her waist; that's right, Leaf had tied her cerise school tie around it. Sue her, but the colors went well.

When she met his eyes again, she barked, "_What_?"

"Nothing," he said amiably, though amusement was dancing in his eyes.

"Hey, I know what you're thinking, and let me just put it out there _right now_, this is actually _May's_ dress and I'm just borrowing it- … _not _because _you_ specifically told me to 'wear something nice'," she added with narrowed eyes upon seeing Gary opening his mouth.

"Oh, Green… you cocky, cocky girl, you," he snickered, turning to begin their short descent down the front steps of Aged Chamber and their slightly longer trek to the Auditorium.

"Wha-" stammered Leaf. Of _all _people, _he_ had the nerve to call _her _cocky? "What's that supposed to mean!"

"Make this a lesson: you, of all people, _never_ know what _I'm _thinking," he drawled with all the intention of taunting, though a soft smile that went unnoticed by Leaf graced his mouth.

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, she turned her head away from him and grumbled under her breath, "Like anyone wants to know the inside of a pervert's brain anyways…"

"I'm wounded."

"Good."

A snort. About half a minute of silence. Finally…

"Oh look, we're here!" exclaimed Leaf sarcastically, reaching for the door handles that would help open the back Auditorium doors and ignoring Gary's small snort.

Leaf didn't need to take more than one step further into the building and Auditorium to be able to marvel at all the changes that had been done to the Auditorium to accommodate the event. First, the rows upon rows of theater seats had been removed to allow for a nice, open clearing. On the other side of the room, the stage had been lavishly decorated with poinsettias and tinsel and colorful potted plants and flowers. More tinsel and vibrant plants embellished the walls, and refreshments were lined up in the corners. Moonlight shone through the windows, but the room was mostly lit by an abundance of lanterns and candles. Judging by the amount of people, Leaf could safely say that at least half the entire school was here. Which, of course, would make finding May (and Drew) quite the task.

Leaf found herself in awe of the beauty. If not anything else, then at the very least, the lights were incredibly wonderful…

…She was brought back to the sound of Gary's voice framing the words, "Shall we?" near her ear.

The brunette jumped at the sound and the light tickle of his breath on her skin, but the action made her aware to the way her hand (or, more accurately, her wrist) was being lightly grasped in his. Suddenly feeling incredibly awkward, she made a not-that-discrete attempt to casually slide it out of his grip.

The more she tried to pull away, though, the tighter he seemed to hold on.

"Gary," she hissed. "What are you doing?"

He said nothing in response. By the way his eyes seemed to be intently searching over the crowds of heads for something—or someone—Leaf could've sworn he had even ignored her. She was about to try to tug her wrist out of his hand again when he suddenly began moving forward and easily pulling Leaf along in the process because dang it, guys are strong.

Despite her cries of protest and "what do you think you're doing"s, Leaf couldn't do much but follow him as they wove through the sea of people and peers. She noticed that most of the guys in attendance were wearing some variation on their school uniform, though most of the girls had gotten their hands on a dress of some sorts and were all looking rather nice. She noticed some of the curious looks she received from a few people as she was pulled along by the playboy of the school—including one particular blond seventh year, whom Leaf had recognized in a heartbeat as one of Gary's exes—and apologized to the few people who accidentally collided with her because getting tugged along by Gary actually took a reasonable amount of balance that Leaf sometimes lost.

Finally, after about thirty seconds of seemingly endless winding, they stopped.

Well, Leaf stopped a bit too late, and ended up walking into Gary's back with an "ooph" on her part._ S_he gingerly rubbed her forehead because guys have hard backsides, dang it.

"Gary?" she heard a familiar high-pitched voice ask.

Even though Leaf was still behind Gary and therefore couldn't see the speaker, she didn't need to. She beamed. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Where's Leaf?" the voice asked again.

"A little ahead of yourself to come without your girlfriend, isn't it?" drawled another easily recognizable voice.

"She's here," replied Gary evenly, pulling Leaf out from behind him and presenting her to the two the brunet had previously been conversing with. Leaf wasn't surprised to find that Gary's two conversational partners just now had been May and Drew, and her face lit up.

"Hey, guys—" she began a tad breathlessly right as Gary said, "Well, see you later."

"Wait, what?" said Leaf, whirling to face Gary. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging carelessly.

"Wait, you're leaving me?" said a shocked Leaf as May protested, "But you just got here!"

Another careless shrug. "I don't think my _date_ here actually wants me to stick around for much longer," he said loftily, passing his said date something of a cheeky grin. "She never does."

"You're leaving me?" repeated Leaf. "Then where are you going to g—"

"I have friends, Green," said Gary, rolling his eyes and shrugging. "I'll go hang out with them. See you."

And with that, he turned to disappear back into the dimly lit mass of people. Leaf stared at the direction in which Gary had left long after she stopped being able to make out his hair and clothes, her mouth hanging slightly open.

Did he just… ditch her, his _date_?

* * *

"I need another shot," muttered Leaf, holding out her glass to May.

"If you're trying to get drunk, might I suggest actual alcohol?" said May sarcastically and rolling her eyes, but refilling it with a swish of the punch ladle anyways.

Leaf watched as May set the wooden ladle back into the glass bowl of translucent red liquid. She shifted in her wooden seat with an exasperated groan.

"Pity here, May. My date ditched me."

"Well, mine's been in the bathroom for twenty minutes."

"He probably just can't find us again," muttered Leaf with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Besides, Drew's actually been with us for the past four hours. But _my _date, on the other hand, _left _me. Who _does _that, May?!"

"You didn't want to come with him in the first place," May pointed out.

"Yeah, but isn't there still, I don't know, an etiquette handbook that says that ditching dates is _not_ allowed _even if the date doesn't want you_?"

"When you put it like that… I doubt it."

Leaf groaned and buried her face in the hand that wasn't clutching a glass of punch. May laughed.

"What's the big deal, Leaf? You should be jumping for joy and off looking for Fire or something—"

"It was just rude, okay! I—"

"Maybe it's his way of being polite to you," mused May, interrupting Leaf.

Leaf looked up at May with an "I-can't-tell-if-you're-being-serious-or-not-but-I 'm-going-to-have-to-ask-you-to-elaborate-anyways" look.

"Well, you made it pretty clear that you didn't want to come with him, Leaf. Maybe he just wanted to play with the majority and do the whole partner tradition and just leave it at that before you two start going for each others' throats."

Leaf frowned.

"That actually sounds plausible."

"It does, doesn't it!" exclaimed May eagerly.

"Actually, no. No, it doesn't," deadpanned Leaf, her brow now scrunched in thought. "Gary isn't the type to care about traditions and everyone else. So then that _still _doesn't make sense, and I _still _don't know why he had to come with me as my date so incessantly when I _could've _been spending tonight with _Fire—"_

May snorted.

"Okay, now you're getting ridiculous, Leaf. Just accept it… Guys like Gary are confu—hey, what's going on?" she asked, abruptly lowering her voice upon noticing the quietness that had begun to take over the Auditorium and everyone in it.

Leaf swiveled her head to look behind her at the rest of the Auditorium. Her brow knitted at the sight of everyone backing up into the walls and leaving a large piece of empty floor in the middle. The room was now completely silent. Upon examination of a few faces, Leaf found a range of expressions that confused her: confusion, excitement, apprehension…

Eventually, she realized that everyone was looking up expectantly at the ceiling, particularly towards the windows.

_It's a beautiful night, yeah, but what's everybody…_

Just then, somebody called out, "Eleven eleven!"

Leaf's eyes darted to find the source of the sound, but the action was futile, as there were too many people that the voice could've been matched to. Everybody was perfectly still, though a few more grins had made their ways onto a few more faces. May was one of those said faces, Leaf noted, and she leaned in closer to her friend.

"May," she whispered, a perplexed expression on her face. She hated not knowing things. "What's going on?"

"Every year, the dragons choose one of the sixth years' dragons to crash the dance at exactly 11:11," May whispered back urgently. "Then, both of the Riders bonded to that dragon are selected as Rider King and—"

Just then, one of the windows shattered.

Shards of glass rained down onto the empty dance floor, though the more dangerous assailant would've clearly been the gigantic black beast that had been the perpetrator of the said shards of glass. The obsidian dragon unceremoniously crashed down into the floor, landing on its side with a loud boom. The appearance earned a few startled shouts and high-pitched screams, and, surprisingly, Leaf found herself being one of the screamers.

"Holy Arceus—" she breathed, wide-eyed.

The dragon then chose that moment to blink open an eye and clamber back up onto its feet, making sure to shoot a nasty glare back over his shoulder in the direction in which he had fallen from, as if somebody had thrown him or forced him to do what he just did…

"Hey, that's Azreth!" called a female voice from somewhere on the other side of the room right as Leaf heard Azreth broadcast to her and Gary, _What's goin' on, party people?_

Leaf's eyes widened.

"Az…reth? Wait, so then… Gary—"

She watched as her brunet partner dashed out from a corner of the room and to the side of his dragon, a slightly worried yet bemused expression plastered on his face. His lips were smirking slightly, but his eyes showed genuine worry for his dragon, who was still getting to his feet. She watched as he hovered over his dragon, stroking a part of Azreth's body as he murmured something to the dragon…

Leaf was suddenly aware of a force that was pushing on her back and forcing her off her chair. She swiveled her head to shoot an aggravated look at May, who was grinning.

"What _is _it, May—"

"Go to the middle! You're Gary's partner—you're connected to Azreth by essence, too!"

Leaf froze as she stared at May's excited face, aware that a number of people surrounding them were now eying her curiously. She fully understood what May was saying, and yet it didn't quite register.

"What?"

Then she was practically being thrown forward by a few other people whom Leaf didn't know had been so physically close to her. She tossed them—Serenity and Rosetta, two sixth years—a glare over her shoulder too as she regained her balance enough to carefully walk into the middle.

She felt Azreth's curious eyes on her as she made her way to him, as well as his Rider's amused ones. When she finally reached them, she gave Azreth a soft pat on his front leg and turned to face Gary.

"What _is _all this?" she hissed.

"Just something they do every year," replied Gary, shrugging.

"What on _Earth_ is supposed to be happening—"

"Well, looks like the dragons have chosen our tributes for this year!" boomed a voice that Leaf recognized as Professor Amelian's.

Sure enough, it was the young sixth-year Ground Combat instructor that strolled out into the middle to join her, Gary, and Azreth a moment later, and Leaf was suddenly immensely glad that all the attention was now being redirected to the professor.

"Hey guys," laughed the professor as Leaf eyed two suspicious-looking cloth-wrapped packages in his hand. "For you guys that are probably freaking out and scratching your heads right now, relax; it's just something the dragons do every year to prank us. Looks like this year just had to include Azreth falling through the roof. Good landing, Azreth," said Professor Amelian appreciatively to Azreth, to which the dragon had responded to with a snort and the students a peel of laughter.

He turned back to project his voice at the rest of his audience.

"Well, like I said, it's something they do _every _year, and they're pretty damn bent on it, too… so we just opted for the best and turned it into a game a long time ago." He grinned. "The two Riders connected to the chosen dragon's through essence are the ones that are officially deemed King and Queen Rider of the Winter Formal." He gestured to Leaf and Gary. "Give it up for your King Rider this year, Gary Oak, and your Queen Rider, Leaf Green!"

The Auditorium then burst into peals of applause, hooting, and giggling as Leaf smiled and ducked her head slightly and Gary rolled his eyes, laughed, and slung a carefree arm over Leaf's shoulder who ended up stiffening a tad at his touch. She tried to shove him off gently—to avoid embarrassing either herself or him—but to no avail.

"So you guys know what happens now, right?" said Professor Amelian, directed more towards the rest of the Auditorium than Leaf and Gary.

She felt Gary shift softly up and back down as he released a deep, exasperated, playful sigh. Leaf knitted her brow—no, she _didn't _know what happens next, though by the catcalls and cheers of her fellow schoolmates, they did.

"Well, for the ones that don't know, I'll tell you," chuckled Professor Amelian. "Should they choose to, the King and Queen Riders will now do battle." He turned to Gary and Leaf, a glint in his eyes. "It's either that or a _kiss_."

Leaf felt her jaw drop as she stared at the young professor in disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that now, Leaf, you're almost making me feel guilty," chided Professor Amelian playfully, wagging a finger at leaf. "Well? What's the consensus, you two?"

Leaf swiveled her head to meet Gary's eyes, and in doing so, realized with a start how close their faces actually were, since his arm was still slung around her shoulders. She wasn't totally sure what her facial expression was right now, but she guessed it was probably something among the lines of shock, disbelief, confusion, and maybe a twinge of excitement. Of course, he looked as smug, carefree, arrogant, and easygoing as usual. He quirked an eyebrow at her for a brief moment before turning back to the professor.

"We'll 'do battle', Professor," he said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Leaf opened her mouth, paused, and then hurriedly closed it with a mutter of, "Yeah," and an averting of her gaze to the floor.

What was _that_? Who was he to have just chosen a fight or a locking of lips for them? They hadn't even discussed it. He'd just gone off and said that they'd preferred to fight. What if Leaf had actually wanted to _kiss_ instead of _fight_, that arrogant bastard—

…okay. Yeah. She'd rather fight.

But _still_, he hadn't even _asked_—

Her ranting thoughts were interrupted by a sudden smattering of applause and whistles and cheers and "Beat his ass, Green!" and "Don't hold back just 'cause she's a hot chick, Gare!"

She heard herself laugh and, a moment later, realized that Gary was laughing with her.

"You guys have ten minutes to get changed," said a grinning Professor Amelian as he tossed the two packages in his hands to Leaf and Gary, both of whom gracefully caught their respective parcels. "And five more to get used to your weapons onstage."

* * *

Leaf blinked at the arming sword in her right hand, bobbing her wrist up and down to get a feeling for the weight of the weapon. It was pretty nice, but she much preferred her usual katana. The grip was nice on this one—and the entire thing was a pretty shade of golden, too—but it was at least four times heavier than her katana and she wasn't used to the extra weight. The blade was a bit thick, and the point was incredibly blunt. Experimentally, she gave it a few swings.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Gary did roughly the same with his weapon, a dagger that was just as blunt as her sword. It seemed to be a baselard, she mused. Interesting.

A small part of her mind timidly spoke up that Gary pulled off the gym uniform—the clothes that had been in the packages Professor Amelian had thrown to them—rather well. He was even pretty se—

That small part of her mind was quickly destroyed and the pieces burned. There was no need for thoughts like that.

Leaf returned her attention to her own weapon, and began casually scuffing the bottom of her shoe against the floor of the stage, wondering how much grip she'd have. It was wood, slightly waxy, but it'd do. There would be no slipping or cunning sliding, but at least they wouldn't lose any balance from the floor.

"Ready, you two?" came Professor Amelian's voice. He was standing at the front of the stage and facing them. "Remember, time limit of five minutes. If neither of you guys are cornered by then, then it's the points that'll decide it."

Leaf nodded.

She could only assume Gary had done so too, because then Professor Amelian turned around to announce to all their schoolmates/spectators, "Right, well, looks like this fight between Ms. Green and Mr. Oak can start now. Some ground points. Their weapons have been specifically blunted for the sake of safety, so there won't be much blood tonight, guys. Sorry to the sadistic ones in the room," he added with a laugh. "It'll be a typical five minute fight, and points for each successful maneuver will be accounted for, just in case neither of them corner the other in time. Okay… ready?"

Cheers and whoops and a bit of clapping as Gary and Leaf made their way to the center of the stage, shook hands, met eyes, released hands, and retreated two steps back, each. Suddenly, Leaf realized that this was probably the highlight event of the entire night.

Her thought of, _I swear there's something morally unjust about watching two people fight for entertainment, _was interrupted by Professor Amelian's call of, "Start!"

And then Gary made the first move.

* * *

Numerous jabs and blocks and parries and sidesteps and maneuvers and attacks later, Leaf found her breathing a bit labored as a few beads of sweat trickled down her neck.

He was good, that was for sure. It didn't go unrealized that this was the first time she and Gary had ever actually fought, and over the course of the past three minutes and a half, Leaf had learned things about Gary that one could only learn about someone through a match.

First of all, his fighting style was practically the exact opposite of hers. She had a vague idea from their brief discussion about their abilities of his strengths and weaknesses, but actually seeing someone in action spoke much more than a few words describing that action.

For example, he wasn't that fast. Sharp, yes, but not a bullet. He was a bit too tall to be a bullet. He was more like a gigantic tree—a Whomping Willow. He was offensive, and his punches and footwork always seemed like they'd leave quite a bruise if they ever properly hit. Also, Leaf had found that she'd lost track of Gary quite a few times, despite the fact that they were the only ones onstage. He'd slip out of her peripheral vision to sneak attack her a few moments later (though up until now, Leaf had somehow successfully evaded those.)

Leaf found herself relying more on her parrying and agility than she ever had to before. She hadn't even been able to get a proper jab at him; all her movements were spent on trying to avoid his.

She scowled as she deftly blocked a jab from his dagger and forced him away with her sword, successfully using the length of her weapon as leverage.

He _had _to be getting tired _soon_, right?

She exchanged a few more blows with him (all of which she blocked or parried) before she felt a sharp pain on her shin.

_Damn it, he kicked me_. She countered his dagger with her sword one more time. The two weapons were pressed against each other in an "x", and, through the sword, Leaf shoved him back and away with everything she could muster.

As he faltered and fought to regain his balance, Leaf took the chance to swoop down and gingerly nurse the area of her upper tibia, giving it a quick glance as she did so. She gritted her teeth at the sight of a bit of blood trickling from the gash. What was his shoe _made _of? When she returned her attention to the whereabouts of her opponent, Leaf froze.

Where _was _he?

Her heart dropped into her stomach as she realized Gary had taken the chance for another sneak attack. He was probably even behind her _right now—_

"Boo," came a low whisper near her ear.

Leaf shuddered slightly; she'd felt a warm breath tickle the nape of her neck. She immediately took a step forward, ducking her head in the process and keeping it low. It was then that she whirled to face him, and she began raising her sword in the process with the intention of either putting it between them or to him.

Her eyes widened when she realized how close he still was to her. His face wasn't even a foot away, and his body was no more than a few inches away. His chest was in her face, and she could see it rising up and down with each heavy breath he took. Looking up, she could see that his face was slightly flushed and that sweat was beginning to accumulate on his forehead as well.

But he was so _close._

Instinctively, Leaf took a shaky step back. Unfortunately, Gary had chosen that moment to lunge for her. She heard herself shriek slightly as the two of them lost their balance and faltered down in a similar velocity, only he was somewhat on top of her.

Still, their instincts had been trained. Even as they fell, Leaf was raising her sword. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gary lift his dagger.

And then her butt hit the ground.

He had fallen in a slightly different direction so that his body was at a bit of an angle to hers, although most of him was propped up over her by his left hand, which was to the side of her grounded hip. She saw his eyes widen slightly when he took in their position, but neither moved a muscle.

His right hand was reached out so that the tip of his dagger was pressed to her belly, and her right elbow was pulled back so that the side of her sword was lined up against his neck.

The match was over.

They remained that way for a few more awkward moments that, to Leaf, felt like practically forever. They stared into each others' eyes, as sappy as that sounded, and it was difficult to pull away. The only moving each of them did was of their chests as they recovered much-needed oxygen.

Leaf hardly even heard the applause of their schoolmates or Professor Amelian's amused announcement of, "It's a draw!"

* * *

"Well, this is it," said Gary, running a hand through his hair.

Leaf nodded mutely as she turned to face him. After the fight, they had changed back into their formal wear, and the night had continued. The dance had ended some ten minutes ago, and everyone was now heading to their dorms and beds. Gary had escorted her back to Aged Chambers, even though she had insisted that it wasn't necessary. Chatter and choruses of "good night"s surrounded them.

"Thanks," she ended up muttering. "Um..." she began hesitantly.

Tonight had been alright, and at some point or another, she'd had fun. Still, though, there was one more question lurking on her mind...

"Why'd you ditch me in the beginning?"

He met her eyes lazily, an unreadable expression on his face. He shrugged.

"Like I said... you usually don't want me around, do you?"

"Then why did you ask me to go with you so incessantly?"

"Tradition," he said, shrugging again.

Leaf was silent as she wondered at the feelings of disappointment that had suddenly sprouted inside her.

"You fight pretty well," he murmured, abruptly changing the subject. He reached out a hand to lightly brush the crystal tiara that was resting on Leaf's head.

The tiara was a little something that, apparently, was tradition to give to the King and Queen Riders after their dance or kiss. Leaf actually quite liked it—after all, it was shiny. Gary had been given a crown of sorts, though he had quickly taken it off and immediately given it without another word to some random fourth year who had eagerly asked for it.

"…well, for a girl," he added with a smirk.

Leaf snorted and rolled her eyes. "I would've won, you know. You just surprised me with the whole whisper-in-my-ear thing," she retorted, her eyes narrowing. "That was low."

"They never said seduction wasn't allowed in matches," purred Gary.

"You disgust me," she muttered, wrinkling her nose. When he began advancing towards her, she stammered, "…W-wait, what are you doing—"

He smirked. A glint was playing in his eye.

"If I disgust you with my seduction _in _matches, then I wonder how it'd work _outside_ of matches…" he chuckled lowly, getting closer with each slow, deliberate step he took.

Leaf glowered at him, and she was already backing up faster than he was advancing.

"No. No, don't even take _one more step—_okay, _no more steps _after that one… no, _that_ is the _last _step… no—ah!" she shrieked, although it wasn't because of Gary.

No, it was because she had just backed up into someone.

"Ow…" she grumbled, massaging her head. She immediately apologized, "Oh crap, sorry, are you alri—" but stopped when she saw the scene playing out in front of her.

The one she had backed up into was Drew, and the one _he _had fallen on was… well, May.

"Aw geez, I'm sorry, you guys! Are you okay?" she said hastily, hovering over the pile that was May and Drew's bodies.

"Thanks a lot, Green," muttered Drew as he pushed himself off of May, his ears burning for some reason. May's cheeks matched the color of his ears. The chartreuse-haired boy turned to scowl at Gary. "Take a hint. If she's trying to back away, maybe you _shouldn't _keep trying to seduce her."

Leaf heard herself chuckle slightly. May joined in a moment later. Gary rolled his eyes and snorted.

"She just doesn't know what she really wants," he said, tossing a wink to Leaf.

"Definitely not you," quipped Leaf, sticking out her tongue at him, but grinning when she heard May's laughter and Drew's quiet chuckle in response to her retort.

Even though he was feigning hurt, the way Gary's eyes were shining made Leaf feel bubbly inside, too.

He smirked.

"We'll have to see about that."

* * *

-*-x-*-

* * *

well that only took forever to write. bah, is it even satisfactory? eue

Haha oh well, that's 7. Enjoy! ;) Don't forget to review? :3

-Apheleia


	8. Chapter 8

Shadows clung to their surroundings like the web of a spider, only fleeing when the dim light of a candle touched them.

A figure held the candle out in front of him as he slowly made his way down the empty corridor. The sound of the person's long robes dragging against the ground was the only noise in the otherwise silent hallway.

Taking a right at the next corner, the figure slipped outside and into the open air, picking up his pace and heading towards the forest. The person could feel the magic barriers as he walked through them, but was not barred from passing them.

Once the person reached the forest, slowly skirting around the trees and bushes, he navigated his way farther into the jumble of dense shrubbery, finally reaching an open clearing.

The clearing was bathed in a soft and comforting moonlight, but the person could feel the tension in the air as he silently surveyed his surroundings. Almost as if on cue a man stepped into the clearing across from him, and their eyes met.

The man was clothed in dark, black, skin-tight clothes, and he almost seemed to blend in to the darkness of the forest behind him. Eying him warily, the other man stopped a safe distance a way as the man—most definitely a spy or messenger—slowly bowed to him.

"What do you want?" he questioned in a cold voice.

"Dippet," the messenger said as he straightened up, eyes never once leaving the old professor. "I have a message for you…from Vesuvius."

* * *

A few weeks had passed since the ball and Leaf was on her way to retrieve her and Gary's latest mission (because the spiky-haired brunet was always too "busy" to get it himself) when she spotted May running towards her.

"Leaf! Leaf! Leaf!" May cheered as she dashed up to her friend, grabbing her hands and jumping up and down. "This is so cool! This is so great!"

"What's so great?" Leaf laughed softly, but was more confused than she was amused by May's excitement.

Flashing a mission information paper in Leaf's face, May happily explained, "The academy gave Drew and I a new type of mission – a 'Team Mission' or whatever they called it – and it says on here that you and Gary are teamed up with us to complete this mission!"

"What? Really? No way! Let me see!" Leaf gasped, snatching the paper out of May's hand. As she read it, Leaf felt a grin stretching across her face until she and May dawned the same excited expression.

On May's paper it read:

_Ms. May Maple and Mr. Drew Hayden,_

_Your mission is to fly to the small town of Silverhaven to the north and pick up a package. Do not fret, for the person with the package will be on the lookout for you, and will know to give it to you. Ms. Leaf Green and Mr. Gary Oak will also be accompanying you, as a part of this "Team Mission". Be back by sundown._

_Best of luck,_

_The staff of Savoir Faire Academy_

Leaf was excited for this mission, not only because she got to go with May (and their partners), but because she had already been to Silverhaven a week or so ago on a different mission, and knew that this mission would be a piece of cake because of that.

Silverhaven was the closest town to the academy, although it was a five hour ride there and another five hours back. It was a very small town (it had _maybe_ a hundred people living there at maximum?) – so small that Vesuvius hadn't even cared to mark it on the map. He didn't pay any attention to it, either, which made it the perfect place to receive and send messages and other important things to and from other resistance bases and academies.

Yes, there were other bases and academies. Savoir Faire Academy was just one of the hidden academies scattered across the continent, part of a big chain of other bases and academies that made up the resistance. Savoir Faire Academy, however, was the most successful and most powerful of all of the dragon/rider training academies, and it was well known that nearly all of the best riders and partners had come from that academy.

Speaking of riders, once a rider graduated after their seventh year from any academy, they were then sent to one of the many rebel bases to work there as a full-fledged member of the resistance. Partners paired together at academies stayed partners once they became full members and went to the same base, as well. (Thus Leaf and May were going to be stuck with Gary and Drew, respectively, for the rest of their lives. Oh joy.)

Back to Leaf and May, they were excitedly talking about how much fun the mission was going to be when a familiar green-haired boy sauntered up to them.

"Yo, May-"

"And then we can race on Lithium and Alkali!"

"Or see who can find that guy with the package first! Loser has to buy the winner lunch!"

"May, we don't even _buy_ lunch at the academy. They_ give _us food."

"Then the loser has to give the winner their food!"

Drew's mouth twisted as he watched the two brunettes in front of him chatter and squeal back and forth to between each other.

"Um…you guys…"

"Oh, that's right, I won't have to be alone with Gary again, yay!"

"And I won't be stuck alone with that arrogant grass-head, either!"

Drew was offended.

"I'm standing right here, you know," he snapped, catching the girls' attention and glaring at May, who blinked in surprise before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Oh, hey Drew," Leaf said, finally noticing her friend's partner. "Have you read your and May's mission yet? Apparently Gary and I are going with you guys on some 'Team Mission' thing."

"No, I haven't," Drew answered, raising an eyebrow. "May snatched the paper out of my hand, read it, and ran off squealing before I could. I've been trying to find her for the past ten minutes so we could go get Firroth and Alkali and leave, but since you and Gary are apparently coming with us… Where's Gary, anyway?"

Leaf looked around just as her pendant began to vibrate. "Somewhere around here," she answered. "I just don't know where. My pendant's vibrating though, so he must be nearby…"

"Oh, I'm much closer than just _nearby_, Green," a familiar voice whispered in her ear with a slightly husky tone, causing Leaf to squeak and jump into the air.

"Damn it, Gary!" she yelled upon seeing said boy standing directly behind where she had been previously standing, a playful smirk on his face. "Haven't I told you not to sneak up on me like that before?"

"Dude, how did you do that?" Drew asked in awe, and Leaf and May assumed he was talking about Gary's ability to blend in to the shadows.

Gary simply smirked at his fellow partner for the day and lifted a finger to his lips in the "shhh"-ing motion. "It's a Darkness Ridge secret," he explained. "Only those with a dark-type dragon know how to do that."

Drew quirked his lips and smirked at Gary. "That's a freaking badass trick, Oak," he said, giving the brunet a high-five.

Gary returned it before turning to his partner. "So what's our mission for today?" he asked Leaf.

"We're going to Silverhaven with these two to pick up a package," she answered, motioning to May and Drew. When Gary simply looked confused she sighed and took the mission paper from Drew, shoving it towards Gary.

"Oh," he said once he read it. "So are we going to leave now, then? It'll take five hours to get to Silverhaven and five more back, and it's nearly eleven already. We'll probably have to stay there the night unless we want to fly back in the dark."

Drew nodded. "I'll call Firroth and grab some supplies, just in case something happens on the way there. I'll meet you guys out in the north field?" The other three agreed and Drew nodded once more before turning and heading towards the academy buildings.

"Well, we better call our dragons, too," Leaf said, lifting her arms above her head and stretching. Gary soundlessly nodded and when he concentrated look formed on his face she could tell he was talking to Azreth.

"Hey Alkali, meet us at the north field. We're almost ready to go," May unknowingly said out loud, and Leaf shook her head and smiled before reaching out to Lithium.

_Lith, we're going with May and Drew on a mission. North field in five minutes, okay?_

_Mmm,_ Lithium replied, and Leaf could tell her dragon had previously been dozing off. _Why do we have to go on a mission right _now_?_ _I just found this perfect, large, flat rock to sunbathe on…_

_Oh, quit complaining. You need to get out and stretch your wings anyway, or else you'll get fat,_ Leaf taunted, knowing it would get her dragon up.

Immediately, Lithium replied, _Did you just call me fat, human?_

_No_, Leaf denied a sudden idea popping into her head,_ Gary did. _"Isn't that right, Gary?" she asked him, and said brunet looked at her with a "what the hell are you talking about?" expression.

Before Leaf could say anything else, Lithium reached out through the partnership bond and growled in Gary's mind, _You called me fat, menial creature?_ Gary's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and he glared at Leaf as she tried to hold back a laugh._ When I next see you I'll bite off your fingers one by one-_

_Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. I never said that!_ Gary furiously denied as Leaf listened to the exchange between her dragon and her partner. May, who had finished talking to Alkali, watched in confusion as Gary and Leaf continued their telepathic conversation with Lithium.

_Your rider is trying to frame me! I didn't say anything!_ Gary exclaimed.

_Don't believe him, Lith. I'm your rider; you trust me more than him, right?_ Leaf asked in her sweetest and most innocent voice, causing Gary to give her a dark look.

_Azreth, back me up. I didn't say anything about Lithium, did I?_

_Hey, don't drag your dragon into this, Oak!_ Leaf protested.

_You're not allowed to speak my name after insulting me, mindless animal._

_I didn't even say anything, and now you're insulting _me-?

_Shut your mouth, deficient human._

"Leaf, get your dragon to back off," Gary hissed. "I didn't say anything, and you know it."

Ignoring him, Leaf looked up at the sky and a wide grin spread across her grin.

"I'd rather not," she replied, looking back at him just as a shadow passed over them. "Plus-" Her grin transformed into a smirk. "-Lithium's already here."

* * *

Twenty minutes later and after finally calling Lithium off before she killed Gary (who had madly dashed around the field trying not to scream like a little girl and begged Leaf to stop her dragon while the silver beast chased after him), Leaf, Gary, May, and Drew stood ready to depart from the academy with their dragons beside them.

"Do we have everything we need?" Gary asked Drew, his face still flushed after running for his life earlier.

"Yeah," Drew replied as he smoothly climbed up his green dragon and sat down in the saddle, smirking as he saw May struggling to get on Alkali to his right, who bared her teeth at him as she finally managed to get on her dragon.

"Don't smirk at me like that, cabbage head," she snapped.

"Sorry, February." Drew shrugged, flipping his fringe. "It's kind of hard not to while watching you struggle to get on your own _dragon_."

May opened her mouth to retort but Leaf spoke before she could.

"Let's get going before it gets later than it already is. It's a five hour flight to Silverhaven, remember?" she reminded them.

A minute later all four dragons were in the air, gliding through the academy's barriers and north towards their destination.

As they flew across the forest surrounding the hidden academy, Leaf looked over the edge of Lithium's saddle and down at the forest. She thought she spotted people through the thinner areas of trees, but dismissed it as a group of lost travelers and sat back up in her saddle.

It's not they'd find the academy or something, so she had no reason to worry about them being there.

* * *

Four hours later and they were still an hour away from Silverhaven – or that's what May assumed, at least. She and Drew had never been to Silverhaven before, but Gary and Leaf had a few weeks prior, so she left them to navigate the way there.

Meanwhile, May was dying of boredom. She had slouched down in Alkali's saddle so she was basically staring at the sky – no, scratch that, she was staring into space, since she was already _in_ the sky – and had zoned out.

Suddenly, something hit May, causing her to shoot up in her seat and look for whatever had hit her and where it had come from. She couldn't see anything in her saddle – whatever had hit her had probably been blown away in the wind whipping around her from the dragon's wings – but what she _could_ see was a smirking Drew riding on Firroth in front of her, waving cheekily. Leaf and Gary were slightly farther ahead on their dragons, and May could tell they were arguing even without being able to hear their words.

Focusing on Drew again, May noticed that there was a small ball of paper in his hand, which he threw at her just as Firroth's wings hit a downbeat, causing a large rush of wind to blow towards Alkali and May. The brunette squeaked and ducked, and the paper ball barely missed her.

May had to give Drew some praise as she looked back up; he had managed to hit her directly in the face with the first (she assumed) paper ball – granted, she hadn't been paying attention and wasn't moving – but with the extra speed, it had felt like being punched by Misty – which was _not_ a good feeling. Heck, that paper ball might even leave a_ bruise_.

"Drew Hayden!" May roared, standing up and wrapping an arm around Alkali's neck as she shook her fist at the boy. "I'm going to kill you!"

"I'd like to see you try, January!" Drew retorted, cupping his hands around his mouth to be heard over the wind. May could see the playful glint in his eyes even from here, and accepted his silent challenge.

Smirking, May pointed at Drew and Firroth. "Alkali, fire!" she exclaimed.

Having been listening to the two rider's conversation and keen to join the fight, Alkali immediately did as she was told, opening her mouth and breathing fire in the grass dragon's direction – not enough to actually hurt him and his rider, but enough to give them a warning.

Despite that, Drew's eyes widened in shock upon seeing the fire, but he quickly recovered and got Firroth to dodge the flames.

"Hey, that was playing dirty, May!" Drew shouted, still sitting, unlike May.

May grinned and yelled back. "Nobody said we couldn't use our dragons!"

"Oh really?" The smirk appeared on Drew's face again. "Then Firroth, charge at Alkali!" he commanded.

Firroth was normally a docile, calm dragon, but even a playful sparkle was in his emerald eyes as he wheeled around and flew towards Alkali.

Squealing, May told her dragon to dodge, who did exactly that. She didn't expect Firroth and Drew to actually hit them, since they were playing, but one could never be too careful.

"Still want to kill me, Maple?" Drew called from Firroth.

May grinned.

"You bet."

A second later the two dragons were flying in circles and swooping and dodging around the other dragon, careful to not actually injure the other and their rider.

May was sitting standing with her arms around Alkali's neck when the red dragon suddenly corkscrewed over Firroth, who had been charging at them. May let out a squeak as they flipped upside down, momentarily loosening her grip around her dragon's neck, but that one second was all it took for May completely lose her grip on Alkali.

"Ah, Alkali!" she screeched mentally and out loud as she fell. Leaf and Gary, who had noticed May and Drew's game a few minutes prior and had been watching from the sidelines, let out a yell of alarm; Leaf immediately ordering Lithium to dive for her best friend.

However, Firroth was still under Alkali, halfway through his charge, so when May fell there was only a second for Drew's eyes to widen before the brunet fell on top of him, knocking the air out of him.

May, who had squeezed her eyes shut when she lost her grip of Alkali, slowly opened one eye, and shrieked when she saw Drew's face an inch from hers.

"Oh my Arceus, Drew, I'm s-so sorry!" she stammered as she sat up and scooted back so her back was pressed against Firroth's neck. Her face was as red as Alkali's scales; she had just fallen on top of _Drew Hayden._ If it weren't for the fact that she probably would have died if she hadn't landed on Drew, she probably would have been ten times more embarrassed then she was at the moment.

"It's fine," he grunted as he sat up, rubbing his back. His ears were slightly red, May noticed, so she could tell he was just as embarrassed as she was.

Within seconds Leaf and Gary's dragons were flying alongside Drew's, Leaf leaning over as far as she could without falling out of Lithium's saddle to get a clearing look at her friend. "Oh my Arceus, May, are you okay?" she worriedly asked, leaning over even farther.

May was about to reply when she noticed Gary's gaze worriedly flickered to where Leaf's hand was resting on Lithium's scales, as if he were afraid her hand would slip and she would fall like May, but when May blinked and looked at him again, that worried look was gone.

May cleared her throat. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," she stammered. Since when had she become observant?

Leaf's worried emerald eyes watched her for a moment longer before she looked down at the ground far below. Almost immediately her eyes widened, and May, ever observant today, asked, "What's wrong, Leaf?"

"Nothing's wrong." She shook her head, causing her chocolate locks to fall over her shoulders as she retreated to her saddle. "It's just that we're already in Silverhaven and it surprised me, is all. It's right below us."

"Really? But we've only been flying for four hours." Gary's eyebrow rose, and he looked over the edge of his dragon only to look up again with the same expression Leaf was dawning. "We are," he said as if he didn't believe himself, and then checked again. "Well, whatever." He shrugged. "Let's descend."

As Lithium and Azreth began to descend, spiraling down in circles, May and Drew turned to look at each other at the same time, faintly blushing when their eyes met.

"Um…you can just stay on Firroth since we're already here, I guess," Drew awkwardly said, avoiding making eye contact with May.

May let out an awkward laugh. "Okay," she said, looking away.

After Drew gave the order Firroth began to descend with Alkali following behind him since her rider was on the green dragon. May found it hard to keep her balance as Firroth descend, considering that her back was still against the dragon's neck and she had to reach behind her to (kind of) wrap her arms around Firroth's neck.

So when the green dragon accidentally jerked forward a little, that's all it took to make May fall forward and (once again) onto Drew. Except for this time the chartreuse-haired boy had more time to prepare, and caught her in his arms.

Blushing profoundly when her cheek touched his chest, May froze, and tensed even more when Drew wrapped his arms around her.

"D-Drew, could you let go of me?" she pitifully squeaked.

"And have you fall off a dragon again?" May could feel his chest vibrate as he laughed, causing her face to become even warmer. "I need my partner alive, not dead, thank you. And plus, Leaf would kill me if I let you fall."

Smiling softly but still cringing with embarrassment, May stay silent the rest of the way down, but pushed Drew away as soon as they touched the ground. She muttered a quiet, "Thanks," before slipping off Firroth and walking over to where Leaf and Gary were waiting by one of the small houses made of a gray – almost silver colored – stone at the edge of the town.

Drew followed after her, and once they were in hearing range Gary grinned, letting out a cat call and chortling, "Did I just see Bandanna hugging Drew up there?"

May blushed red again while Drew kept a calm expression despite the fact that his ears were red. "Like you weren't worried about Leaf falling when she was checking on May," Drew retorted, the beginnings of a smirk on his face as he watched Gary's eyes widen a fraction and a faint blush spread across his cheeks.

May was a bit startled; Drew noticed that, too?

Leaf blinked, surprised, and turned to look at the spiky-haired brunet.

"_What?"_

"Hey, I'm allowed to worry about my partner!" Gary snapped at Drew, ignoring Leaf. "And you were comforting May up there, weren't you?"

"No," Drew scoffed, "I was just keeping her from falling again-"

"Excuse me, Misters and Misses." Gary and Drew stopped their arguing to whip their heads around in the direction of the voice while Leaf and May simply turned and looked. A young man – who looked to be around the age of nineteen or twenty – was standing behind them with an amused expression on his face. (May assumed he had witnessed Gary and Drew's argument).

"You wouldn't happen to be from the Savoir Faire Academy, would you?" he questioned.

Gary and Drew both blinked, although the latter was the first to speak. "Yeah…we are," Drew said hesitantly. "Are you the guy with…?"

"The package?" As he was speaking the man had pulled a small package out of his pocket. It was only about an inch or so across in length and an inch in height, baffling the four riders.

"_That's_ what we flew here for?" Gary exclaimed, causing the man to let out a small laugh.

Meanwhile, Leaf had stayed silent, suspiciously observing the young man. He had jet black hair and piercing crimson eyes, and the more that she looked at him, the more Leaf felt that she had seen him somewhere before. She tried to figure out where, but was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that the man was standing in directly in front of her.

"You're Leaf, correct?" he asked her, and once again Leaf felt like she had seen him somewhere before when he flashed her a small, almost unnoticeable smile.

"Y-yeah, I am," she stammered. How did this guy know her name? Maybe the academy staff had told him, who knows. He had the package, so he must be a resistance member anyway – and probably a full-fledged one, given how old he looked.

"Then I entrust this package to you," the man said as he put the small box in her palm. Leaf noticed it was slightly heavier than she expected; whatever was in it wasn't exactly light. "Keep it safe until the right time."

Noticing the suddenly serious tone in the man's voice Leaf looked up, right into his blazing crimson eyes. "I-I will, I promise," she stammered, assuming he was talking about taking it back to the academy.

Another small smile slightly curved his lips, although Leaf noticed this one was a sad smile. He leaned forward a little and said in a voice so quiet that only Leaf could hear, "Don't let the others touch the package, okay? And keep yourself and the ones close to you safe."

Leaf nodded although she was thoroughly confused, and the man pulled away.

"Well, it was nice to meet you all," he said in a happy but calm tone, although Leaf thought she might have heard some sadness underneath it. "Maybe one day we will meet again."

And with that the man disappeared around one of the houses before anyone could squeeze in another word, leaving the four silent.

"…What did he say to you?" Gary asked after a moment, looking at his partner.

"Um…he just said to keep the package safe," Leaf lied. "I'll hold on to it on the way back." She didn't want her friend and both of their partners to know that the strange man had wanted only _Leaf _to carry the package. What was so important about it that only one person should carry it, anyways? Plus that whole "Keep it safe until the right time" thing or whatever. They would be back at the academy tomorrow – or maybe even tonight, if they decided to leave right now, but after that it'd be in the academy's possession. That was what he meant, right? To keep it safe until they gave it to the academy staff?

Leaf let out a frustrated sigh. She hated being confused. She liked to know exactly what was going on, all the time. She didn't like not knowing things.

"Hey Green, you done trying to burn a hole into that box with your eyes? Because we're getting ready to leave." Gary's call shook Leaf out of her thoughts and made her realize that she'd been staring at the box like it was Vesuvius or something.

"Yeah… Wait, we're leaving right now?" Leaf questioned as she followed the others towards where their dragons were resting. "I thought we were staying the night and heading back tomorrow."

Drew shook his head as he climbed onto Firroth. "It's about three right now, and if we fly fast enough we can get back to the academy before the sun sets at six."

"You want us to fly back under three hours?" May asked. "But its normally a five hour flight!"

Drew faked shock. "It can use math _and_ figure out time?" he dramatically gasped, but after a moment dropped the act and smirked at her. "I know that, June, but it only took us four hours to get here, right? So if we fly just a little bit faster we can make it in three."

"My name is May…" she mumbled, but gave in and climbed onto Alkali.

Meanwhile, Leaf and Gary had already mounted Lithium and Azreth, respectively.

_You're not too tired, are you, Lith?_ Leaf asked. _Can you fly faster, do you think?_

_Do not underestimate me, I'll be fine,_ the silver dragon calmly replied.

Leaf sighed, slipping the small package into a bag on Lithium's saddle and making sure the flap over it was closed before she straightened up.

"Let's go, then. Back to the academy."

* * *

One hour later and Leaf and May were getting restless. May had been bored since the beginning of the flight back, but only now it was getting to Leaf.

"Hey May," Leaf called over the wind, "want to race the rest of the way?"

May sat up in Alkali's saddle and grinned over at her friend.

"You know it."

"Hey, wait a minute-!" Drew began to protest, but his words were cut off as the red dragon and the silver dragon shot forward, their scales shimmering in the sunlight. Letting out a huff, Drew glared as the specks of red and silver grew smaller in the distance.

Next to him, on Azreth, Gary grinned.

"Well, let's go after them, shall we?"

* * *

Two hours later and May and Leaf could finally see the mountain that the academy was hidden on in the distance, and began to slow down. Gary and Drew were following farther behind them, having caught up, for the most part.

"I can't wait to get home and eat a ton of food," May sighed dreamily, patting her stomach. "All this flying has got me hungry. Plus, we missed lunch, too!"

Leaf laughed next to her. "Is food all you think about?" she asked. "Gosh, you're as bad as Ash!"

"No, she's _worse_ than Ash," Drew teased as he and Firroth glided over to the girls, Gary and Azreth following.

Leaf laughed again as she watched May try to lash out at Drew from her dragon, knowing that there was no way she could reach him with the giant gap between their dragons. However, her laughter died out when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye, and turned her head to look.

There were plumes of smoke rising from the mountain, and Leaf squinted to get a better view of it. "Is there a… forest fire or something?" she worriedly questioned. The other three stopped their chatter to look. "Can fire get through the academy's barriers?"

"I'm… not sure," Gary replied slowly. "But Leaf… it doesn't look like the forest is on fire."

"Then where is the smoke coming from?" May wondered.

"There has to be a fire somewhere for there to be smoke," Drew pointed out.

"You're right, but…" Leaf trailed off, staring at the smoke as they neared. They were still too far away to really see anything other than the smoke in the air and a few flames, but Leaf could feel that something was wrong,_very_ wrong. But what could it…?

And then everything fell into place.

_Smoke and fire,_ Leaf thought, feeling her heart starting to beat faster, _plus those people earlier…_

"Whoa, Leaf, you okay?" she faintly heard Gary ask in a worried voice when he saw her panicked expression, but she ignored him and urged Lithium to speed up.

"No… No… No…!" Leaf whispered repeatedly, recalling the event from over a month ago.

. . .

_Leaf watched them go as Professor Alida tried to calm the now blubbering girl, who was crying after hearing what the professor had said about her partner._

_"Dear, you have to calm down," Professor Alida said softly. "Please tell me what happened."_

_"M-my p-partner and I…we were…coming back from mission…ambushed…s-soldiers," she sobbed. "I-it was near the academy, j-just over there." She pointed towards the forest to the west of the academy, not far from where the magical barrier was located around the school. "T-they can out of nowhere…we…we couldn't…"_

. . .

"Leaf, wait up! Where are you going?" May cried out, but Lithium, sensing Leaf's panic and seeing the images that were now flying through Leaf's head like a tornado, continued on without slowing.

_Soldiers… plus fire… Oh Arceus please don't be…_

Lithium suddenly jerked to a halt, nearly forgetting to flap her wings in her shock. Leaf clung to her neck, peering over the edge of her dragon to look below. She was aware of May, Gary, and Drew approaching on their dragons, but soon enough they too froze in horror.

May gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth.

"Oh my Arceus…"

Gary and Drew sat stone still, their eyes wide and full of alarm as they looked down.

A sob ripped its way out of Leaf's throat as the first tears began to spill out of her eyes.

Far below them, the Savoir Faire Academy was under attack.

* * *

A/N: This chapter was 14 pages and 5, 273 words long and it took all day to write, but I am so, _so_ happy with how this came out. :') This is my favorite chapter so far. And also, sorry for not updating last week I was supposed to again. :( I just really, really suck at updating regularly (just look at the stories on my profile: I haven't updated one in like, HALF A YEAR. XD)

And finally the plot picks up! :D I bet you guys are all like: "OMG NOO Y DID U STOP THERE I WANNA NO WUT HAPPENS!11!1 ;A;" But sorry, you'll just have to wait for Apheleia to write to next chapter. ;)

Also, I CANNOT tell you how much plot there is in this one chapter alone. It basically equals ten times that of the plot of the rest of the chapters all put together. (And yeah, that guy that had the package was pretty important. :P)

Oh, and also, I just wanted to mention that **LeafgreenshippyXD** was the one who gave me the brilliant idea to have a "Team Mission" (although she didn't exactly call it that). Thank you, LGSXD! c: **CierraLuvsPokemon4Eva** also deserves a thank you, because she was the one who said that this story needed just a bit more Contestshipping, and so I put some in this chapter. I hope all of you Contestshipper's feelings melted when you read that scene. ;D

(And also, while I'm thanking people, Apheleia and I want to thank all of **YOU** for reading/reviewing/favoriting/following Savoir Faire! :D)

-AquaStarlight


	9. Chapter 9

As Leaf stared at the scene unraveling below them with wide, unblinking eyes, things began registering in her mind in phases.

First, they could actually _see _the academy and the fires and smoke and destruction billowing from it…which meant one thing: the barriers were somehow down. Fear clenched in Leaf's stomach at this recognition—whoever the invaders were, they were powerful enough to get by the academy's defensive magic. Defensive magic that had never been bypassed before…

Second, she could see and hear the fighting below. The clashing of sword against sword, the explosions of magic and fire, the strangled, agonized screams that Leaf desperately hoped didn't belong to any of her peers or professors…

She saw figures in black demonstrate merciless waves of magic aimed towards the inhabitants of the academy. She saw students of all ages fighting back with or without their dragons, and she saw more attempting to flee into the forest. She saw professors using powerful magic and utilizing their combat skills to the best of their ability to fight each figure clad in darkness and to stall enough time for the students to escape. She saw the smoke and fire acting as stage effects for the entire scene of destruction. She saw the courtyards getting demolished by the ongoing violence, the buildings themselves collapsing from fire and destruction…

It all felt like a dream. A bad, bad dream that she'd wake up from any moment now.

"No," she whispered, her face pale and her body uncontrollably trembling.

It was unreal. Why was this happening? Leaf couldn't wrap her head around anything. This wasn't right. The academy had been just fine when they left no more than a few hours ago.

For what seemed like eternity, Leaf sat there, staring at the grounds and destruction below, trying to comprehend but utterly failing...The only word that could really describe what she was feeling right now was numb. Yes, that was it—numb.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of May's voice.

"They can't do that!" she heard May scream. When Leaf turned her head to look at May, she could see the angry tears in the brunette's eyes. "_They're going to pay_! Let's go, Alkali!"

"No, May—!"

But it was too late. The brunette and her ruby dragon were already recklessly spiraling down towards the academy. Alkali was raining fireballs onto the black-clad figures directly below them and May was already drawing an arrow and hooking it onto her bow.

"Damn it, May!" snarled Drew, and Leaf watched in horror as he, too, left the air and began hurtling after the brunette.

"_No_! Guys, stop, what are you doing—?!" cried Leaf desperately, and she was about to shift Lithium to bullet downwards as well when she suddenly felt a warm pressure on her right forearm preventing her from doing so. She looked up at the perpetrator of the action, who was right next to her on his own dragon and whose face was hard. "Gary, what are you doing?" she said, trying to come off as annoyed, but probably failing because she herself even heard the tremor in her voice. "We have to—"

"_No_. Calm down," he said, his voice urgent and cold. "Think it through first."

She paused.

"But May and Drew—"

"They weren't thinking," Gary deadpanned, holding onto her gaze with a steely control. "Don't let your emotions rule, Green."

As Leaf stared back at him, she couldn't prevent a little voice inside her that admired him for being able to stay so calm and collected in such a situation...or the little voice that knew he was completely right. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't hate those voices.

"Don't cry," he whispered, his eyes still boring into hers.

It was then that Leaf realized that there were, in fact, tears streaming down her cheeks and she hurriedly wiped them away with the arm that was still free. He tightened his grip slightly and it was then that Leaf realized her hand was actually shaking. She closed her eyes and took a moment to collect herself, swallowing a few sobs along the way.

_Happy place. Think happy place. Except happy place is being mauled right now..._

"Okay," she said after a deep breath, her eyes reopening to meet Gary's. "What do we do?"

Recognizing that she was together again, Gary withdrew his hand and looked down at the scene below them with a slightly frustrated expression.

"Those idiots thought it was a good idea to dive headfirst," he rushed, his brow knitting. "Let's fly to the forest outskirts and leave Lithium and Azreth in safety, first. Then we'll get up to the academy. It'll be easier and faster to get through everyone without our dragons, and we won't be as noticeable. We'll take our weapons."

There were a few long seconds of pause, and Leaf, confused by the sudden silence, turned her head to look inquiringly at Gary, who seemed to be focused in concentration. Slightly aggravated, she was about to point out that they were wasting time and was even opening her mouth to do so.

It was then that Leaf heard Azreth erupt, _Hell no! You think that if you're in real danger that we'll just leave you there? I'm barely on board with the first plan of you ditching us, but if you get into serious crap and you think we're not going to come for you—warning, Gary, you've got something else coming._

Leaf was confused.

"Gary, what is he talking about?"

_Your partner decided that the beast and I ought to try to do our best to get you and only you and run away if the two of you get into real trouble_, explained Lithium disdainfully. _As if, human._

Leaf's mouth thinned into a tight line as she whirled her head to glare at Gary who was intentionally trying not to meet the girl's angry gaze.

"Whether you're alive or dead, there's no way I'm going to leave you behind, Oak," she hissed.

The brunet cocked his head to give Leaf a sidelong glance. Leaf swore she detected a faint trace of amusement in his expression. Amusement, and something else that she couldn't quite place her finger on…

"We're partners," she continued. "Just like how I'm never going to leave Lithium behind, I'm not going to leave you or Azreth behind." She narrowed her eyes before continuing quietly and threateningly, "Don't try to be a hero, Gary."

There was a moment as Leaf stared at Gary and Gary stared back. His expression was passive, unreadable, his lips pressed in a thin line…

Finally, his face collapsed into a soft smile. He shook his head as a quiet chuckle escaped his lips.

"Let's go," he said, turning Azreth to head for the edge of the forest.

* * *

"So what now?" whispered Leaf, aggravated.

The two were hiding behind a considerably large rock. Lithium and Azreth were, as planned, camouflaged and hidden in a large tree close to the northern point of the academy, where Leaf and Gary currently were. Right beyond their rock was where the battle began, and Leaf did her best to block out the sounds of grunting and shouting and clashing and roars and sound of blades or magic violently hitting their targets…

"When we get out there, keep your head down but stay alert," muttered Gary as he studied the blade of his longsword. Leaf fingered the sheath and hilt of her own katana as she watched his fingers ready the weapon. "We'll go around the side. Look for May and Drew or anybody we know and try to get them. Aside from that, try your best to stay out of fights."

"But we can't just _leave_ everyone else to…to fight and die!" whispered Leaf stubbornly.

"What, do you want to go fight everyone's battle for them and save everybody?" retorted Gary in an angry whisper. "If we could, we _would_. Since we can't, we have to prioritize and just…believe in everyone else."

Leaf said nothing as she glared at a spot of grass beside them. She knew he was right, but when was he so…_mature_? It infuriated her, for some reason. It infuriated her that he was right and that she had no comeback.

"Ready," he murmured as he shoved the last piece of his dagger into place with a click. He turned to Leaf. "Ready?"

She sighed. "As I'll ever be."

"Good," he said, and slinked off to her left. Leaf followed his lead and proceeded to run quieter and faster than she ever had before, all the while watching carefully for any sign of a red bandanna or chartreuse hair. When they turned the corner, she still didn't see either May or Drew.

She _did _see, however, fighting. Fighting between humans and humans, fighting between huge dragons and huge dragons, fighting between humans and dragons. Lifeless corpses of dragons and humans alike littered the ground, and puddles of both crimson and silver blood—wet and dry alike—colored the ground.

Leaf fought back more tears and another strangled sob as she stepped over the body of a second year girl that used to be in May's dorm.

Blinking away the moisture building in her eyes, she focused her gaze on Gary's back. They avoided blasts of fire, magic, jabs from the figures clad in black. They kept running aimlessly, passing by the western walls and nearing the courtyards.

Right as they did, though, Leaf noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Something silver and an inch or two in width and heading straight for—

"_Gary_!" she shouted and promptly quickened her pace for a few steps to shove him forward a few feet.

Not even a second afterwards, Leaf felt a searing pain somewhere in-between her stomach and right obliques. She instinctively staggered and brought her hand to apply pressure onto the fresh wound, wincing. The dagger, its momentum altered by the presence of her body, fell onto the ground a few feet away from her, a thin lining of fresh blood on its blade. She heard her protectee curse as his widened eyes studied her.

"Green! Are you al—"

Still clutching her side, she interrupted him with a cry of, "Your left!" despite the fact that words hurt to speak.

In a flash, he unsheathed his sword and Leaf watched as his weapon clashed twice with a black-clad figure who had snuck up to them before Gary made a successful jab for the attacker's midriff.

Even though this attacker had tried to kill both her and Gary, even though the figure was part of the invasion on her beloved academy…The only parts of their attacker's—and really, any of the invaders'—body that were exposed were their eyes and the spots of skin surrounding those eyes. Leaf was sickened and compassionate at the sight of the attacker's eyes bulging and rolling back as they stumbled down into a kneeling position while holding the spot where Gary's sword had punctured and pulled out of. Leaf fought back a whimper and a sob as she watched this person, this _stranger,_ die right before her eyes…

"Green, can you run?" asked Gary, rushing through his words and jerking her from her concentration.

She nodded mutely, her eyes still stuck on the person dying before them. It was one death amongst dozens already executed on these academy grounds since the day began, but…

"Let's go, then!" he shouted, taking a hold of her wrist and beginning to leave.

Leaf obliged, though her eyes were still glued to their dying attacker. She didn't look away until the angle became impossible for her to focus her eyes on them any longer.

As she passed by their attacker, she could've sworn she heard them whisper, "Thank you," right before they launched into a barrage of bloody coughing.

* * *

Minutes later, Leaf found that they still hadn't caught a single glimpse of red bandanna or chartreuse hair. She could feel her legs burning and her lungs begin to yearn for more oxygen, and the wound and blood loss were definitely playing a role towards the unnatural feeling of weakness in her knees. It was either that or the amount of bloodshed that was going on around her that far surpassed anything she had ever seen before, despite having been trained in combat for nearly her entire life.

Now, all she was doing was mindlessly racing one step after another with Gary as her guide; her eyes weren't even actively searching anymore. Her mind wasn't even registering the corpses she kept running over, nor the individual fights going on every five feet. A corner of her mind supposed that it was easier to ignore those types of things because they weren't bothering them much in the first place. There was no doubt that Gary was right, that it was easier to slip past humans and around rampaging dragons undetected than if their own twenty-feet-long dragons had been present.

The pain was beginning to dull, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. She didn't need to look to know that her shirt was soaked with blood. She didn't need a doctor to know that her body's natural instincts were beginning to kick in, and that "natural instincts", in this case, meant shut down.

She was just tempting fate by running around like this, wasn't she?

Still, she knew, she couldn't stop. Stopping would mean the equivalent of, "Hey, look at me! I'm a student of the academy you guys are trying to attack and I can't move and I'm already hurt anyways! Kill me!" and becoming vulnerable. Stopping would mean slowing down Gary as well. Stopping would mean never seeing May or Grasshead again...

So she didn't stop. She _couldn't _stop. Even so, her body was pleading to.

Therefore, she had never been more grateful for anything Gary Oak said than his next words.

"I see them!" he shouted, abruptly changing their direction by turning seventy degrees to their right but not slowing down their pace at all.

At this point, Leaf was almost struggling to simply keep her eyes open. Still, when she focused her eyes to search in front of them after their new change in direction, she could see that Gary had been completely right.

There, right there, was May, Alkali, Drew, and Firroth.

...fighting a losing battle against three figures clad in black and their respective Dark dragons.

Even at a distance, Leaf could tell that there was something wrong with May. The brunette was on her knees, her face contorted in pain as her hands gripped her lower leg. She never once took her eyes off of the ones who were acting as her protectors at the moment, namely Drew, Alkali, and Firroth. As she and Gary neared, Leaf could see the sweat and scratches and frustration on Drew's face as he readied another defensive stance, a sword that clearly had once belonged to an invader clutched in his hand. Alkali and Firroth were fighting off all three of the Dark dragons, one of which had a Rider on top.

What happened next wouldn't fully register in Leaf's mind until later.

Leaf watched unblinkingly as one of the invaders on the ground lunged for Drew. The chartreuse-haired boy was able to dodge and maneuver himself to force his assailant away, but he was caught off-guard by the partner, who took the opportunity to sneak up behind Drew. He trapped the boy by getting a grip on both of his arms and sliding an arm across the teenager's neck, choking him. Leaf watched as Drew thrashed, and when she felt Gary's grip on her wrist tighten, she knew that Gary was watching the scene unfold as well. She then saw Drew's captor raise his other arm to jab a spot near his jaw, and the green-haired boy immediately fell limp in response.

Her eyes widened. No. No...no. _Arceus_, no.

Her mind was so numb that she barely even heard Gary curse aloud and contemptuously snarl, "Pressure point," under his breath.

Even with her senses dulled and her mind slowed, Leaf knew what was happening. She knew what was happening before Drew's captor smirked, before May's eyes widened in horror, before she saw May open her mouth to scream, before she saw Firroth freeze and crumple at almost the exact same time as Drew did, before the black-clad figure that had knocked Drew out dragged Drew's unconscious body up onto his Dark dragon, and before the said Dark dragon spread its wings and prepared for take off.

And that was when she knew they wouldn't make it in time.

"_No_!"

Leaf watched in confusion as one of the invaders stuck something onto Firroth's neck, and then in disbelief and horror as Firroth then opened his eyes to reveal glazed, unfocused emerald orbs. The dragon spread his wings to follow the dragon that had taken Drew, though it wasn't in hot pursuit. It was in obedience, submission...

Gary picked up their pace, and despite the dangers that it would present to her condition, Leaf obliged.

The remaining two dragons and their Riders were beginning to round on May, and Leaf felt another bout of adrenaline—perhaps one of the last she had in her—overtake her body. She shook her wrist loose from Gary and surged past him to reach May, to reach Alkali, to reach the invaders that were part of this plot to destroy the only home she had ever really known...

When she was no more than a few paces away from them, Leaf unsheathed her katana and thrust it at the unsuspecting ground attacker. Without even missing a beat, she retracted the blade from the body and promptly swung at the leg of the opposing dragon closest to her. She heard the loud, anguished roar and, despite the circumstances, felt remorse for her actions. Still, without so much as a glance back for Gary or the other assailants, she rushed forward to May and knelt down in front of the brunette.

"May," she began urgently. Behind her, she could hear Gary holding off the other attacker and dragon. "Are you alright? Can you move?"

Weakly, May nodded.

"I think it's just a really bad sprain on my ankle," she whispered. "But I can't move..."

Pressing her mouth into a tight line, Leaf stood up—ignoring the protest from her wound as she did so—and whistled for Alkali. The dragon, previously attempting to hastily nurse a gash, immediately trotted over to May and Leaf. By putting May's arm over her shoulder, Leaf was able to help May up into Alkali's saddle with a only a few grunts of effort.

"Alkali, we're heading north," Leaf told the dragon, though after exerting the effort of helping May up onto Alkali, her fatigue was finally catching up to her. "Lith and Azreth are there. We're getting out of here."

"Leaf!" exclaimed May, her eyes wide with terror as the brunette's sapphire eyes raked up and down Leaf's body, though they focused on the area of her midriff above all else. "Your side—!"

"It's nothing," muttered Leaf, gritting her teeth and trying to fight the dizzy spell that was quickly overtaking her brain. "Priority is getting out of here."

And with that, she turned to look for Gary, who was easily yet carefully dodging every single attack and trick the Dark dragon and his Rider were throwing at him. She doubted he would've been so injury-free if he hadn't had a Dark dragon of his own and knew their capabilities as well as limitations inside and out.

"Gary, let's go!" she shouted.

His immediate response was a curt, nearly unnoticeable nod. Leaf gave the cue for Alkali to begin her and May's escape, and after Gary maneuvered his way out of the fight with a few fakes and basic acrobatics, Leaf took off as well with Gary at her side. They heard a shout of frustration from their assailants, and it took a bit more dodging of streams of dark magic and knives before she and Gary were completely out of the woods, so to speak.

Once they had ran several hundred yards and there was no barrage of deadly magic specifically on their tail, Leaf knew they had lost their attacker. She suspected that a large reason as to why was because of all of their dodging and skittering around foliage and landmarks and other fights—another instance proving that Gary was right in not having let their own dragons come.

No more than a hundred yards ahead of them was Alkali, and Leaf could see the dragons' Rider turn her head every now and then to worryingly watch her and Gary. Leaf would've given her best friend some wordless reassurance and motion for the latter to simply focus on what was ahead of her, but she honestly didn't have the energy or willpower to do anything more than run right now. Her mind was starting to feel detached from her body, and everything was beginning to move like a dream. The pain from her wound was starting to ebb into a dull throb, but the rest of her body felt as fragile and weak as twigs. The stars she was seeing weren't helping much, either.

Each step was beginning to feel like torture.

Leaf doubted her heartbeat was even in the ballpark of the speed at which would be considered even remotely healthy.

_Lith_...

_Leaf?_ replied Lithium anxiously. Leaf felt her dragon probe around in her mind to search for answers to the dragon's unspoken questions. _Leaf!_ her dragon bellowed, and despite everything, Leaf flinched at the unadulterated anger in her tone. _You asinine, idiotic, moronic _imbecile!

_Flattered_, replied Leaf dryly. _Really. You know how to charm._

Yet, despite fronts, Leaf was incredibly perturbed by the fact that it was getting harder and harder to communicate with Lithium, a task she had always done so easily ever since childhood. If she was having trouble doing something like _this_, something easier than _talking out loud, _then she really was in trouble...

"Almost there, Green," she heard Gary's voice reassure her. Confused by how far away he sounded, she turned her head slightly to look at him and found that he was actually no more than a few feet away.

Oh. Well. Now she was at the point where her mind was starting to play tricks on her. Great.

"I...I can't..."

"Hey, hang in there," she heard him say urgently, desperately. "We're almost there."

Unable to respond with much more than a small nod, she kept running. At this point, she was moving on no more than sheer willpower, having never suffered through more agony than she had in the past ten or so minutes. Death was becoming a welcome alternative, and the only thing that spurred her on was that they were now at the edge of the front courtyards and she could already see Lithium and Azreth.

In a small corner of her mind, Leaf wondered when and how the human body finally succumbed to blood loss. Surprisingly, they'd never really covered that in any class.

Her question was abruptly answered a few seconds later when the world became black and she only vaguely felt her body crash into the ground.

* * *

"Wait, but Gary, we have to go back! We have to go back for Drew! We can't leave him!" shouted a familiar feminine voice, overflowing with distress.

"There's nothing we can do for him right now, May! Trying to get him back in _your_ condition is _suicide_, not to mention Leaf's!" retorted another voice angrily, deeper but just as familiar. It also sounded closer, Leaf noted wearily.

"But—"

"_It's that kind of recklessness that got us into this mess in the first place_!"

And that was the finishing blow. As far as Leaf could tell, May didn't retort to that, and she hypothesized that the fiery brunette was probably biting back tears, her expression something along the lines of utter frustration. No longer focusing on the conversation that she had come back into consciousness to, Leaf was able to gather enough of her mental power to pay more heed to her current status, although her eyes were feeling way too heavy to open and not worth the effort.

She could feel some sort of steady, almost whipping breeze—the kind of breeze she's only ever felt on the back of a airborne dragon. Despite the fact that her eyes were closed, her suspicions of flying were further proven by the light that were irregularly hitting her eyelids—light that was most likely twilight sunshine streaming through leaves and trees. She was pretty sure she was curled up in something resembling of a fetal position, and she felt a warm pressure on her wound. The pressure hurt, and yet compared to what she'd been through, it was definitely more bearable.

Speaking of warm, that's what she swore her entire body was curled up against—something warm.

_Lith...?_ she ventured, hesitantly and groggily reaching out to her dragon.

_Love? Are you awake? How do you feel? Is your position uncomfortable for you?_

_I'm...awake...but I think I'm...slipping out again soon._ _My_...position's _fine__, but what...what position is this...?_

_You are with the deficient human on top of his beast. You are sideways in front of the human, and his arm is on your back... _She paused. _Would_ _you like me to tell him off?_

Oh. Well, that explained the pressure on her back.

_No, it's fine...What happened?_

_You and the deficient human were running towards us when you fell to the ground, unconscious. He was able to pick you up and the moment he was on top of his beast, we left. Alkali and your friend are right next to me, and I am in-between them and you._

_How long have I been out?_

_A few minutes, love. As soon as we put a comfortable distance between us and the academy and find a body of water, we're landing and treating you immediately._

Not really having anything else to say, Leaf communicated a sense of contentment to Lithium.

_Rest, _was her dragon's authoritative reply.

A few seconds later, Leaf felt a soft tickle on the side of her face that felt suspiciously like hair that was a tad too spiky to be her own. From the way she'd felt Gary shift his body slightly and the way she suddenly felt a light breath on her neck, she deducted that Gary had leaned into her.

"Are you awake?" he said hastily. "Lithium told me you were. Are you?"

If she had the energy, Leaf would've mocked him for being slightly overbearing and a tad overpossessive and a bit overprotective right now.

Since she didn't, all she could do was respond with a feeble croak of, "Gary?"

"You're awake," she heard him whisper, relief surging through his tone, and Leaf felt his one-arm grip on her tighten slightly. "You're alive, even. Arceus..."

Slightly confused by his sudden change in character, Leaf didn't respond. When had he been so...not like Gary?

"I can't believe you," he continued quietly in her ear. "You're a damn hypocrite, Green. You are the _last _person allowed to be a hero. Who the hell do you think you are, telling others to not be a hero?"

Well, that was a little more like it. Still, Leaf didn't respond, confused as she was. It didn't help that her mind wasn't exactly registering his words at maximum efficiency anyways. His anger was effectively rendering her speechless...not that she had the energy to reply much in the first place.

He then exhaled a sigh, long and frustrated, and Leaf felt the resulting breath somewhere near her jaw and neck.

"Just rest," he mumbled.

So she did—but not before hearing one more thing. A short, wry, throaty chuckle.

"And next time, _don't _be a hero." He paused. "...Leaf."

* * *

can't tell you how difficult this was to write

brain fried from overworking

error error error

shut down

jk, but yeah

SO MUCH PLOT IN THE PAST TWO CHAPTERS..overwhelmed yet? ;o hehe yes, your worst nightmare is true: Drew's been captured, along with Firroth! :(...

as always, thanks so much for all our readers/reviewers/alerters/favoriters! :) you guys are the best x)

Happy February,

-Apheleia


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10_

When Leaf next awoke, it was by way of the dull thud of a dragon touching down on the ground. The pain of the dagger slash was still there, she noted, and it took her a moment before she was able to block out the pain and reach out to Lithium.

_Lith…where are we?_

_You're awake again, love? We just landed near a lake… The deficient human wants to treat your wound right away._

_How long was I out this time?_

_…Two hours?_ her dragon warily replied, as if not completely sure herself.

Leaf groaned as she felt a force not her own shift her, and realized that it was Gary gathering her into his arms. Her partner carefully slipped one of his arms under her knees and the other behind her back, hugging her gently but closely to his chest.

"Awake again, huh?" she heard him grunt, apparently hearing her groan of protest. Too tired to speak, she simply replied with a feeble nod; eyes still squeezed shut. A moment later Leaf felt Gary slide off of Azreth's back, and winced as a jolt ran through her when he hit the ground.

Struggling to open her eyes, Leaf pressed both of her hands to her stomach as she realized just how badly her wound was aching. "Let me down," she moaned even as she felt the dried blood and new blood oozing out beneath her fingers.

Gary's reply came out fiercer than she expected. "Hell no! There's no way you'll be able to stand in this condition, much less walk!" he snapped. "Don't push yourself; you've lost enough blood as it is."

Leaf was about to offer him some sort of argument when suddenly she felt a timid hand run across her hands and her wound. Finally managing to force her eyes open, Leaf slowly searched her surroundings for whose it was. "…May?" she croaked, recognizing the brunette standing next to the one holding her.

"Hey, Leaf." May gave her a tired smile. "How do you feel?"

Leaf searched her friend's face, and noticed how hollow her normally cheerful eyes looked. "…Terrible," she weakly admitted, making a note through her haze to make sure May was okay later. But before May could reply, Gary abruptly turned the other way, allowing for Leaf to see the large sheet of glistening water spreading out into the distance before them. Night had already fallen, making the water dark and the lapping of the waves on the shore seem ominous.

"Come on, we've got to get your wound cleaned before it gets infected," the spiky-haired brunet briskly said, walking towards the water's edge. May hesitantly followed behind him, kneeling down next to Leaf once Gary set her down on the sandy bank of the lake.

"Let me handle this," she quietly murmured to Gary, ignoring the apprehensive look on his face. He frowned, and when she saw that he was about to argue with her, May said, "I have more medical experience than you, anyways. Go search through all of our bags for gauze or anything else that could be useful, if you want to be helpful."

Gary stayed silent for a moment, his lips pressed in a tight line, before he stiffly nodded and spun around, striding off towards where the three dragons were worriedly watching their riders from a distance.

Once he was gone May sighed and looked down at her friend, examining her wound before setting to work on tearing off the part of Leaf's shirt around the gash. As May tugged on the cloth, Leaf silently watched her friend's face; easily spotting the worried and guilty expression she was trying to hide. A switch flicked in Leaf's mind, and as May finally tore the bottom of Leaf's shirt off to expose the wound and threw the bloody strip of cloth aside Leaf recalled the events from earlier.

Drew. Drew was captured. Leaf closed her eyes as the memory ran through her mind. The look on May's face said everything. She was worried about her partner. She was worried about Drew; what had happened to him after the academy's raiders had captured him. And she probably felt guilty for what had happened, too.

Shoving the light-headed feeling in her head away, Leaf opened her eyes just as May pressed a wet cloth that Gary had probably found while scavenging through their bags against her wound, causing her to gasp and arch her back as pain lace through her body.

May tried to clean the wound as gently as she could, continually saying soothing things to Leaf. "Shhh, calm down, Leaf," she said softly as she carefully wiped the dried blood away from the gaping wound in Leaf's abdomen. "The gash isn't that deep and thankfully it's stopped bleeding, for the most part."

"Are _you_ okay, though?" Leaf wheezed, trying to avoid looking at her wound by focusing on her friend's face. "I mean, with Drew being-."

"Gary, did you find anything?" May sharply cut her off, turning around to ask the brunet as he approached them. Leaf frowned; May was obviously avoiding the subject, but the grimace on her face told Leaf that Drew's capture had definitely affected her. She stayed quiet as Gary neared them, carrying something in his arms.

"I found an emergency first aid kit," he told May as he handed her a white box. "It should have everything you need in it."

"Thanks," she curtly replied, turning back to the injured brunette again. She opened the first aid kit as Gary kneeled down on the other side of Leaf, his hands skimming over her wound.

"Ow." Leaf winced, and Gary immediately pulled away his hand, quickly apologizing.

"How is it?" he quietly asked May. "It doesn't look deep, but will it scar?"

"I'm not a doctor – how am I supposed to know?" May suddenly snarled, completely out of character. Immediately she blinked in surprise, and then murmured a, "Sorry…" to Gary, who looked quite startled by her outburst.

After cleaning the wound with antiseptic, May pulled a large bandage out of the kit and pressed it against Leaf's wound; said girl hissed in pain and dug her nails into the sand as she did so.

"Can you sit up?" May asked her as she plucked a roll of gauze out of the box. "I want to put this on to make sure the bandage doesn't fall off." Leaf bit her lip and gave her a small nod, and with Gary's help sat up. May quickly wrapped the gauze around her waist, making sure that it held the bandage securely in place.

Once that was over with and Leaf's wound was treated, she slowly lay back down on the sand, letting out a shuddering breath.

_Lith, come here, please,_ she begged, and the silver dragon was by her side in an instant.

_What is it, love?_ Lithium immediately asked, worry lacing her tone. The dragon wrapped herself around her rider; growling at Gary and May to step away before draping a protective wing over Leaf, shielding her from view.

_Put me to sleep, please?_ she pleaded. _My wound feels like somebody poured gasoline into it and then lit it on fire._

Lithium sighed, but obeyed her injured rider nonetheless. _Sleep well then, love,_ she said, emitting a faint psychic pulse to lull the girl asleep. _We'll figure out what to do next in the morning._

And with that, Leaf was out like a light.

* * *

Weak sunlight shined through May's eyelids, waking her from her slumber. With a groan she opened her eyes; stretching out her arms and legs. She had been curled up against Alkali while she slept, but now stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

A quick scan of the area told her that Lithium was still curled up around Leaf near the water's edge, whereas Azreth was sleeping near the protective shade of the trees a ways away – much like Alkali (although she was there because the fire dragon didn't like being anywhere near water). May assumed Gary was also sleeping with his dragon, but only once she was completely sure that everyone else was asleep did she cautiously turn and head into the woods.

Climbing around tree trunks and shoving fronds out of her way, May slowly made her way farther into the forest, still not completely sure where she was going. A minute later, though, she came across a small stream bubbling through the forest, and collapsed on to one of the big rocks next to it.

Wrapping her arms around her legs, May rested her head on her knees and watched the water trickle across the rocks in front of her. She swallowed, trying to fight off the growing lump in her throat, but when her eyes started to water she gave up; blinking and letting a tear trail down her face.

And that was the breaking point.

Tear after tear cascaded down May's face until she was outright sobbing; burying her head into her lap to muffle the noise. Everything suddenly caught up to her in a rush, and realization of what had happened hit her like a punch to the face.

"Drew…it's my fault you were caught…" she cried, sobs wracking her body. "Arceus, if I hadn't just recklessly run into the battle you'd still be here right now…"

It was her fault her partner was captured. It was her fault Drew had tried to protect her when she twisted her ankle. It was her fault that he was no longer here, and since she had also lost her partner pendant sometime after plunging into the battle, she had no idea what condition he was in.

Drew Hayden might as well be dead, for all she knew.

That thought made another loud wail tear itself from her throat. May never realized how much that annoying grass head had meant to her until now, regardless of all of their stupid bickering and arguments in the past. Arceus, if she could just rewind time…

"May?" a voice called out to the brunette, causing her to jump and spin around, tears still trickling down her face. Gary stood near the trees; his eyes widening in alarm when he saw her tears. "Whoa, what's wrong?" he asked, climbing across a fallen log and making his way over to sit down next to May.

Trying to avoid the subject, May weakly questioned, "What are you doing here? Isn't leaving Leaf alone in her condition dangerous?"

Gary shook his head, although the blue-eyed brunette noticed that he did cast a worried glance back in the direction of the lake. "She's got the dragons with her. If anything happens, they'll let out a roar," he said with a sigh, looking down at the water flowing past him. "And if those people that attacked the academy somehow followed us here, they'll protect her." He stayed silent for a moment longer. "…Now, why are you out here alone?" he asked, looking over at her. "It's too dangerous for us to separate after what's happened in the past day."

"It's nothing," May said with a small shake of her head. "It's just…" She drew in a shaky breath. "…nerves, you know? After everything that's happened…"

"You're worried about Drew, aren't you?"

May's eyes shot to Gary's, who steadily held her blue gaze with his green ones. "N-no…!" May denied, but even to her it sounded weak and untrue. "Why would I…?"

"It wasn't your fault; there was nothing you could do," Gary said, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Drew sacrificed himself to protect you, and wallowing in guilt isn't going to do anything to help-."

"It _wasn't_ my fault?" May cried out in frustration, new tears gathering in her eyes. "Of course it was! If I had actually thought things over instead of just diving into the battle then none of this would have happened! You even said so yourself!"

Gary let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his spiky hair. "Is this seriously the time to be discussing this? We have an injured person with us, and for all we know those academy people could be scouring the forest for escaped students like us right now!"

"But-!"

Gary abruptly stood up. "We need to discuss where we're going to go next. I'm heading back to the lake," he said, not sparing a single glance back at the distraught brunette near the stream as he disappeared into the forest.

Once Gary was gone, May looked down at her hands.

"Drew…"

* * *

When Leaf first opened her eyes the next morning, she was puzzled when she looked up and saw nothing but silver, instead of the blue of the sky. And then she realized – oh, it was Lithium's wing.

_Lith, move your wing…_

Immediately Leaf felt her dragon shift, and a moment later Lithium drew her wing away, exposing Leaf to everything outside of the protective cocoon she had been in. The sun didn't look like it was in the middle of the sky yet, and Leaf wondered what time it was as she struggled to lift herself into sitting position.

Just then Gary appeared from the edge of the forest, and rushed over to Leaf when he saw what she was doing. "Whoa, Leaf, you need to stay down," he urged, gently pushing her back down again.

"No, I'll be fine," she huffed, still struggling to sit up. "I don't want to lie on the ground all day, anyways. Might as well start working towards recovery now."

"You'll end up making your wound heal slower if you move around a lot, you know," he deadpanned, but hesitantly allowed her to sit up anyways. Leaning against Lithium's side, Leaf tried to catch her breath.

_Dang, I must be really weak, if simply _sitting up _makes me tired…_ she thought.

"Where's May?" she questioned after looking around and not spotting her friend's familiar red bandanna head.

"She's depressed about Drew," Gary explained. "I found her crying near a stream in the forest earlier, but…"

Leaf frowned. So she was right that May was worried about Drew… "But what?" she pressed.

"I sort of…left her there?"

Leaf stared at her partner in shock. "Why would you do that?" she exclaimed. "You don't just walk away from a crying girl! Have you no shame?"

"I _tried_ to talk to her," Gary defended. "But I'm not good at comforting emotional girls. Why don't you talk to her, Lea-?" He stopped, eyes widening slightly. "I-I mean, Green…because you're her…friend…"

Leaf froze.

_"And next time, don't be a hero." He paused. "...Leaf."_

"Why don't you ever call me by my first name, Gary?" Leaf slowly asked, looking up at him. "You only ever call me 'Green'…"

Gary blinked, and then quickly looked away. "I-It's a stupid reason," he stammered. "You'll laugh at me if I tell you."

"…Yeah, I probably will."

Leaf caught Gary's eyes, and the brunet held her gaze for a moment before he let out a long sigh. "It's because…" he began. "…well, I always feel like if I don't treat you with respect then you're going to bite my head off or something…"

Leaf stared at him for a moment, and then her mouth twitched. A second later she burst out laughing, saying between giggles, "That's got to be the…stupidest thing…I've ever…heard…!"

"See, I knew you'd laugh," Gary grumbled darkly.

"Ahahaha-!" Leaf started coughing, and Gary had to put pressure on her wound to make the pain subside. Once her coughs had stopped, Leaf asked him, albeit sadly, "Do you really have that impression of me?"

Gary shrugged unsurely. "Well…sort of. I mean, every time I see you, it's like I'm talking to a different person, so I never know what to expect."

Both were silent for a moment, until Leaf spoke.

"…Well, I'm just me. So from now on, call me Leaf, okay?" She looked over at Gary and smiled. After a moment, Gary smiled, too.

"Okay…Leaf."

They stayed like that for a second longer before Leaf suddenly winced, hands flying to her stomach. "Man, I've never gotten a wound like this before," she complained, grimacing. "It hurts like a bitch."

Gary made a snorting sound, and at almost exactly the same time he and Leaf noticed May appear from the trees; spotting them and hesitating before walking over to join them.

"Hey May, you okay?" Leaf quietly asked as her friend sat down next to her.

"…Yeah," May said in an almost silent, unsure voice. Leaf frowned, but decided not to push the Drew issue right now.

"So…where are we going to go, now?" Leaf questioned. "The academy's been destroyed, so…" They all winced at that. The academy had been their home for the past six years, and to see it go up in flames like that…

All three were silent, deep in thought. "I think…" Gary began, causing Leaf and May to look over at him. "…I think for the time being we should stay here, at least for a little while to let Leaf's wound heal a bit more."

Leaf was about to protest when May nodded in agreement. "Sorry, Leaf," she said somberly, "but I think it's best if you rest more. If I lost you, too…" She trailed off, and Leaf saw her trying to hold back tears.

"May…" she began worriedly, but the brunette was already on her feet and walking away from them. "May!" she called again, but her friend ignored her as she approached her red dragon, who immediately curled around her rider, shielding her from view.

Leaf and Gary fell silent; just able to hear the sound of May's sobs from where they were. Leaf stared after her friend in despair, but knew she was unable to go after her with her being in the state she was in.

"May's so…depressed. I've never seen her like this before," Leaf said out loud, watching Alkali.

Gary sighed, looking at the ground. "She's right, though, you know," he said, looking over at Leaf just as she turned to look at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked, brow furrowing slightly.

Something akin to anger flared in Gary's eyes for a moment. "You could have died from all that blood loss," he hissed, causing Leaf to flinch. "You're lucky you didn't. Why the hell did you do that, anyway – shoving me out of the way and taking that dagger like that?"

"So you'd _like_ to be impaled in the side by a dagger?" Leaf dryly replied. "I was just trying to protect my partner, Gary."

"Well I'd rather that _I'm_ the one getting injured, not you," he growled, baring his teeth at her. "For Arceus' sake, Leaf, just _don't _do that again, okay? Let me take the hits."

"No," Leaf stubbornly refused, ignoring the way Gary's eyes darkened. "Gary, I've known that there were going to be risks to being a part of the resistance for a long time, and just because there's the danger of being injured or killed doesn't mean I'm going to step back and let somebody else get hurt if I can stop it."

"You can't always be the hero, Leaf," Gary argued. "If I have the choice between keeping you safe and letting me get injured or you getting injured while I stay safe, I'm sure as hell going to make sure that first option happens. You're _not _getting hurt as long as I'm your partner, Green."

"Leaf." Her eyes narrowed. "Gary, you're not giving me any credit. I can defend myself as well as protect others!" she growled.

"Oh really?" he said in a downright condescending tone. "Then that explains how you ended up getting your stomach sliced open," he drawled. "Look, if we ever get caught in a fight, just try to stay on the sidelines, okay? I can handle the fighting. You should just concentrate on staying safe."

"No. If there's a fight, I'm going to do my best to keep you and May and our dragons safe."

"I'm serious, Leaf. Don't be a hero again."

Leaf, tired of arguing, slowly lay down on the ground and turned to face away from Gary; not replying and pointedly ignoring him.

She could imagine the way Gary scowled without even seeing it. "Leaf," he growled in a warning tone.

"_Goodnight_, Gary."

"It's not even night time!" he hissed viciously. "Arceus damn it, Leaf, just promise to stay out of danger!"

Leaf closed her eyes, refusing to even acknowledge him at this point.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Leaf heard Gary growl, "You are _not_ being a hero on my watch again, Leaf," before the brunet spun around on his heel and strode away.

Once the sound of his footsteps faded away, Leaf slowly opened her eyes and sighed, staring out across the lake.

"I'm going to do what I have to do to protect my friends, Gary. Even if that includes being a hero."

* * *

Ahaha I'm so mean by making you guys wait an extra week for this chapter, especially after what happened to Drew! :3 /doesn't want to admit I was too lazy to write it sooner. But now we've finally hit the double digits, folks!

I, personally, don't like this chapter. :/ I just feel like its choppy and everyone's sort of OOC in some of the scenes…what do you guys think? (I do like the ending, though. I'll admit that.)

Anyways, nothing really plot-moving happened this chapter. They're just basically deciding what to do next… There are some Contestshippy and Oldrival/Leafgreen feels, though. c:

And…errr…well…Leaf's partner and best friend tried to bond, didn't they? Guess it didn't work out; Gary's not exactly patient, and neither is May… and Gary doesn't like dealing with emotional girls. XD But Leaf and Gary are closer now! :3 Look, they're finally on a first name basis!

….And then they ended up fighting. Now they're on a not-even-talking-to-each-other basis.

I tried to show how much Drew's capture really did affect May this chapter, but, well…look how that turned out. XD Ah, Gary, you're not helping in the slightest.

Oh! Another thing to mention (if you haven't seen/read them already) are that Apheleia and I posted some little drabbles called **Savoir Faire Extras **on this account. The four that have been posted so far all happened during/before the beginning of Savoir Faire, but they don't affect the plotline of SF in any way. They're just fun little extras, sort of like behind the scenes moments, I guess. c: Check them out if you have some spare time.

Thanks again for all the reviews/follows/favorites, guys! C: (WOW, we leaped from around 70 to 95 reviews last chapter! You guys are the best! :D)

-AquaStarlight


	11. Chapter 11

Leaf stirred. She shifted slightly and, as a result, felt the grass underneath her body tickle her. The small movement also made her aware of something rough yet warm laid on top of her body—presumably Lithium's wing.

Even with her return to consciousness, Leaf remained where she was for a moment, her eyes shut. She vaguely wondered if May, Gary, or any of the dragons were awake. She strained her ears for any sound of her companions, but when none came, Leaf finally summoned the willpower to open her eyes.

The first thing she saw was darkness.

Leaf furrowed her brow. Since when was Lithium's wing this black?

She gave the makeshift blanket a soft, hesitant prod. The wing responded no less than a moment later and easily raised itself off of her, exposing Leaf to the blue skies overhead and surrounding wilderness. When Leaf tilted her head to the left to inspect the owner of the particularly dark wing, she mentally fumbled when she saw that it was, in fact, _not _Lithium.

"Azreth?" she asked, surprise coloring her tone.

The large obsidian dragon blinked open one bleary, gray eye to study Leaf. He opened his mouth and released something resembling of a yawn as he uncrossed his front limbs and stretched.

_Morning_, he hummed.

Leaf gave a nod of acknowledgement before pushing herself up into a sitting position, though the action was quickly followed up by a flinch and a whimper on the brunette's part as her wound suddenly reminded itself to her in the form of a sharp ache.

_Careful_, hummed Azreth as he watched her wince and put a hand up to instinctively cup her side. _Might want to wait for Gary and Bandanna to come back before you do anything...drastic._

_I feel like both you and your Rider would make great mothers, _responded Leaf dryly, already slightly annoyed despite the fact that she had literally just woken up. She quickly scanned the area, which seemed to be barren of any other human or dragon life. _Where are they?_

_Water. Food. Checking out surroundings._

_Why are you with me instead of Lith?_

Azreth's broad shoulders raised slightly and his head tilted a few degrees. _They decided that Lithium's sonar would be more helpful and that I make a pretty good bodyguard anyways._

Leaf nodded and gently laid herself back down onto the ground again. She laced her hands behind her head. _I see._

_I suppose you do, _replied Azreth. There was a pause. Then, tentatively, the dragon began, _You know, despite him, Gary actually does care._

_What are you talking about? _replied Leaf flatly, closing her eyes. To be honest, on the contrary, she had a feeling she knew very well what the dragon was talking about.

_I know him better than anyone, _said the dragon, and Leaf noted a tinge of pride in his words. _And I know that he doesn't let people in easily._

_Are you saying that he's let me in? _said Leaf sarcastically, opening her eyes to gaze accusingly at Azreth.

The large dragon met her gaze. _I'm saying he's in the process of it._

"...Oh," mumbled Leaf. ..._So what does that matter? It doesn't excuse him for being overbearing and...and overprotective._

A small cloud of dark smoke tumbled out of Azreth's nostrils—a dragon's equivalent of a human sigh.

_Humans. _He said the word disdainfully with a brief shake of his head.

_Well _excuse _me, but your beloved Rider is human, too._

_He's more reasonable._

_I digress!_

A few more tufts of smoke and Leaf suddenly realized that Azreth was chuckling. She watched the dragon amusedly and gave a small smile of her own.

_Tell me, then_. _Tell me why it excuses him._

_Well... _Azreth shifted uneasily. _Despite what it might seem like, he didn't have an easy past. _

Intrigued and slightly surprised by this, Leaf pressed, _Go on._

_...Nah, _denied Azreth after a few moments of silent deliberation on the dragon's part. _If he wants you to know, he'll tell you himself when the time's right. Until then, just know that he'd hate to see any of you injured or dead._

_You know, when people say that, that "right time" usually never comes, _mused Leaf. She paused. _Is it really that big of a deal?_

_Eh, _said Azreth nonchalantly, closing his eyes. _It's just a story._

_Sure. Because it's no big deal that Gary has trust issues because of it, _said Leaf sarcastically.

_It's not my story to tell._

_...If you insist._

_Also, they wanted me to tell you, once you woke up, that we have decided to head to Silverhaven, _said Azreth, casually changing the topic.

_What? _Leaf's eyes flickered open in surprise. _Why?_

_It's the only place that we know for a fact has a rebel base in or near, thanks to the last mission of getting the parcel from that one dude. At the very least, it's better than staying in the woods for the rest of our lives._

_Guess so..._

Azreth opened an eye to study her. _Something wrong?_

_A little_, admitted Leaf. _Are we flying?_

The dragon shook his head. _Ground. Flying's too risky. No doubt V-Dawg's already got the skies monitored twenty-four seven._

Leaf stifled a laugh. "_V-Dawg"?_

The dragon grinned, exposing a number of incredibly sharp teeth. _Makes him more real, doesn't it? He's so damn famous and always such a big-shot._

Chuckling, Leaf looked over at Azreth, whose tail was swishing happily and whose eyes were dancing with humor. She reached over to playfully punch the dragon. _You know, Azreth, you're actually pretty cool._

"_Actually pretty cool"? _echoed the dragon, sounding insulted, but the grin gave his true emotions away._ What was I before?_

_I kind of thought you were just a dragon who was like his Rider in every way, all the way down to the flirting part._

Azreth chuckled. _Well, you know, Gary really isn't that bad..._

Leaf scoffed. _Bite me._

_Will do_, quipped Azreth, lifting his head and beginning to make a show of snapping at Leaf, who was laughing while flailing like a turtle on its back in an attempt to fight the dragon off while avoiding agitating her wound, her attempts at self-defense severely hampered by her inability to get off of her back or move around.

It wasn't long before Leaf found herself genuinely enjoying messing around with the beast like that; it quickly became a war in which Leaf retaliated by aiming for the sensitive spots she knew all dragons had. It wasn't long before Leaf found herself laughing and giggling and feeling so much more _carefree_ than she had in a long time.

A small corner of her mind wondered quietly that if Azreth could make her this happy, how much happier could his Rider make her?

The said corner of her mind was quickly shoved away and fed to an imaginary dragon.

A few minutes later, Azreth movements slowed to a freeze and Leaf stopped mid-jab to peer up worriedly at the dragon. The dragon's eyes grew distant for a few seconds before returning to reality and looking down at Leaf.

_Gary and the others are coming soon. He says we need to get ready to leave fast because they've seen some V-Dawg guys nearby._

And just like that, the mood shifted. Leaf's demeanor morphed into that of a serious one, and she gave their surroundings another quick sweep. _They have the supplies, right? _she asked, to which Azreth responded with a nod. _So all I have to do is get on your back._

Azreth eyed her warily. _Can you do it?_

_I can try, _she replied, though the uncertainty in her tone was obvious.

Azreth lowered himself down onto his forelimbs and shuffled as close as he could to Leaf, though as she looked up at how _far_ away the top of his back seemed, Leaf was slightly overcome with despair. How was she going to haul herself up ten feet? Especially since she couldn't even sit up properly?

Sensing her uneasiness, Azreth assured her, _You can wait for Lithium or Alkali, if you want. He says the goons didn't notice them; we're only getting out just in case._

_I..._

Leaf bit her lip. Backing down would slow their getaway by at least a few seconds, and despite what Azreth said Gary said, it was better safe than sorry, not to mention her pride. On the other hand, there was no telling what she'd do to herself if she tried to climb up Azreth's back by herself, she thought bitterly as she pushed herself up onto an elbow, flinching at the amount of pain a meager action like that did to her.

The answer to her dilemma turned out to be neither of those and actually came in the form of a shout of, "Leaf!" by a familiar voice.

Leaf's head snapped in the direction of the sound, and was relieved to see May on a trotting Alkali with Gary and Lithium following close behind. Both May and Gary's expressions were serious and focused.

"Hey, guys," greeted Leaf with a weak smile as Lithium ambled over.

When she was a few yards away, Gary made a smooth moving descent off of Lithium and, using the momentum, quickly bounded the last few feet to Leaf's side.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he murmured with a roguish grin as he swiftly picked her up in his arms, and despite the fact that Leaf knew that he was doing his best to not jostle her wound, it still hurt like someone reopened her wound, poured gasoline on it, and lit it on fire.

Leaf couldn't help it. For a brief second, she shrieked.

"Shit—shit, shit. Damn it, I'm sorry, Leaf. It's okay. You're okay," said Gary quickly, lifting her up and then setting her down on Lithium as softly as he could. His eyes were regretful as he stroked the side of her hair until Leaf's whimpers died away, and through the pain, a part of Leaf found itself utterly shocked at Gary's hospitality. After one last "you're okay", Gary turned to Lithium and mumbled, "Subdue her before leaving," before rushing away a few paces to Azreth.

_You're okay, love, _assured Lithium, and a few seconds later, Leaf could already feel the pain dulling and her mind blanking.

_I love you, Lith..._ was Leaf's last thought before her head lolled and her conscience was out like a light.

_Sleep well._

* * *

The next thing Leaf woke to was the warm crackle of a small fire.

As she returned to consciousness, she was suddenly aware of a soft blanket draped around her and a warm, scaly presence to her left who, this time without a doubt, she knew to be Lithium. A few feet away, she could vaguely hear the quiet murmuring of Gary and May.

Once Leaf was fully conscious, her eyes fluttered open and she found a scene straight out of a storybook. A few feet in front of her was a quaint little campfire, one no doubt started by Alkali. On the other side of the fire were May and Gary, huddled together and talking in low tones. Alkali and Azreth were beside their respective Riders, and both were resting. Overhead, beyond the canopy of trees and branches, was a perfect navy sky dotted with millions of diamonds.

_Lith?_

_Ah, you're awake? How do you feel?_

_Fine...I think your magic's still lingering. I'll be back to hurting in no time._

Lithium chuckled lowly. _I'm sorry I can't keep it going for longer, but I wouldn't want to risk you. We both know what effect an overdose of dragon magic has on humans._

"Don't worry about it," mumbled Leaf, shifting into a sitting position. The movement caused her clothes and Lithium's wing to rustle, and Leaf was suddenly aware of at least two more pairs of eyes on her.

"Leaf?" called May softly. "Are you awake?"

"Nope," joked Leaf, and she looked up over and across the fire to meet May's eyes.

With a start, Leaf suddenly realized how _bad _May looked. Even with a campfire as the only competent lighting source, it wasn't hard to see the more depressing features of May's face. The brunette's once peppy eyes were now weary. Her previously shiny hair was now dull, and her face and arms were covered with small scratches. And in general, the brunette's face was more sullen than Leaf had ever seen it before.

Even when she smiled, it was weak and small. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, for now. ...How do _you _feel?"

A pause.

"...I've been better," mumbled May as she lowered her gaze to the fire, her expression solemn.

Leaf's heart broke. She'd never seen her best friend so..._hopeless._

"Drew's alive, May," said Leaf quietly after a few moments of silence. "Don't worry about it. He's...he's fine. If they'd had wanted to kill him, they would've done it at the academy instead of shipping him off."

"Yeah...you're right," acknowledged May, though no hope entered her eyes as she continued to stare blankly at the embers.

"There are things in life worse than death," interjected Gary.

Leaf's eyes snapped up to glare at him for a moment in a _what-the-hell-are-you-doing-being-such-a-downer _kind of way. He stared back and shrugged in a _hey-now-I'm-just-telling-the-truth_ kind of way that made Leaf sigh and stare at the ground and worry and wonder about their captured friend.

A few seconds later, Leaf heard sniffling and immediately knew it to be May's. It didn't take a genius to know what she was crying about, either.

Leaf returned her gaze to Gary again and met his eyes to give him a look that plainly said _now-look-what-you've-done. _Leaf watched as he sighed and reached out an arm to comfortingly sling over May's shoulders.

Silence fell upon the group, the only sounds being the fire and May's occasional sniffle. For a long time, nobody spoke.

And then, after what seemed like eternity, Gary broke the silence.

"Give up on him."

In a heartbeat, both girls turned their attention to the brunet, who was staring intently at the fire and pointedly avoiding both of their gazes. Leaf was only vaguely aware of her own gaping mouth.

"You mean...Drew?" whispered May, and Leaf heard the tremor in her friend's voice.

"You won't be disappointed if you didn't have expectations in the first place," he said slowly, and each word was like a jab to Leaf's heart; she could only imagine what his words were doing to May's. "I'm saying this as a friend." He turned to May and sharply met her eyes. "Let go of Drew, and no matter what happens in the end, it'll hurt less."

"I can't...I can't do that," protested May, her voice coming in nothing more than a whisper.

"Why are you so negative, Gary?" wondered Leaf aloud, and the frustration in her voice, however slight, was evident. "How can you _say _that?"

Gary his head to look straight at Leaf, and she saw that his expression was a bit annoyed. Leaf could practically _see _the retorts dancing on the edge of his mouth.

"There's a difference between negativity and realism just like the one between optimism and stupidity," he retaliated. "And if you're not _sensical _enough to see it..."

Leaf's eyes narrowed. "What, are you calling me dumb?"

"No, I'm saying you're not seeing all the facts here," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Please enlighten me, o great one," said Leaf sarcastically. "Really, what could you possibly know that I don't? How could you_ possibly_ know how May feels right now?"

"Come on, guys. Don't do this..." said May, but her pleas went ignored.

"I'm not saying I do," retorted Gary. "Not exactly, anyways. But—"

"Then don't pretend like you know what's best for her right now!" snapped Leaf. "You're always so full of yourself, and you _always _think everybody else should just bow to you and do _everything _you say—"

"What the hell?" began Gary menacingly, and Leaf watched him defiantly as he stood up and angrily began making his way over to her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't you think you know, master of the universe?" replied Leaf sarcastically. "'_If we're ever in a fight, just stay on the sidelines. I can handle the fighting.' 'Don't be a hero again.' 'Let _me _take the hits.'," _ she mocked him, using flamboyant hand gestures for effect. Her eyes quickly darkened again. "Kind of overbearing, aren't you?"

"It's a crime to watch out for my friends?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"Friends? Is that what you call us? Sorry, I thought _friends trusted_ each other," retorted Leaf, her eyes furiously boring into Gary's. "We're _partners_, Gary. Don't you think the least you could do is trust _my _abilities, too?"

"What if I'd rather save your life?" growled Gary.

Leaf glared at Gary.

"You're _impossible_," she hissed.

"Yeah? And what does that make you? Completely unreasonable?" he snarled.

"At least my _friends _wouldn't think so," said Leaf, clenching both her teeth and fists.

Silence then fell upon the two, and they glared wordlessly at each other for several long, endless seconds.

This isn't worth it, a small voice in the back of her mind told Leaf. This isn't going to end well. Just stop...stop and say you're sorry.

I have my pride, another voice retorted. And we're _not _losing to him...

"Gary..." began Leaf lowly, and despite her anger, there was a small tremor in the way she said his name that made the brunette desperately hope Gary hadn't heard it. "Even before this year, before the partnerships, all we've ever done is argue and argue and _argue..._to the point that I don't even know _how _the professors thought we'd _ever _make a good team."

Gary's face hardened and he pressed his lips into a thin line.

"Guess what? I agree," he hissed.

Annoyed at the fact that he was still trying to play it smart-alecky, Leaf found herself shouting, "Fine! Then I guess there's _finally_ something we agree on!"

Scowling, Gary snarled, "I guess there is."

"Guess there is," echoed Leaf, rising to her feet and ignoring the protest of her wound, and her face was soon dangerously close to Gary's. "And you know what else? I'll take your advice. I'll _give up _on this partnership, since it's pretty obvious that there was never one to begin with!"

"Fine," he spat. "Like I care at all. So I guess there's no more need for _this__—_"—he took off his pendant in one swift, furious movement—"—anymore, is there?"

Leaf glared at the necklace dangling from his fingers before returning her angry gaze back to his face. "And what are you going to do with that?"

Gary gave Leaf one more look of utter loathing before stepping past her with a hiss of, "Ending it."

Leaf's gaze followed him as he walked in the direction of a nearby river. He stopped when he was a few yards away, and then, in a flash of movement, he hurled the necklace into the rushing stream. A plop was all the pendant sounded before the merciless current swept it away.

As Gary stalked back to the camp, all Leaf could do was gape at him in shock and anger.

"Fine, then!" she screamed at him as he passed by her and trekked over to his bag, an unreadable expression on his face. As he worked on gathering his things, Leaf continued, with angry tears in her eyes, "_Fine_! You...you...just _leave_! You...moronic, _fatuous _idiot! I never needed you, anyways! None of us did! You can just...you can just...just _die, _for all I care!"

And with that, Gary stood up with a jerk as he slung his knapsack over his shoulder. His cold eyes looked straight past Leaf as he began walking in her direction. He didn't slow when he neared her; in fact, he brushed right past her.

The only thing he did to acknowledge her presence was snarl one thing when he passed her:

"I'll see you in hell, then."

Then he raised his voice and called for Azreth, who slowly rose to his paws. With one last reluctant glance at May, Leaf, Alkali, and a particularly lingering look at Lithium, the dragon crossed the length of their camp and plodded after Gary, his large obsidian head hung in despair.

Leaf wordlessly watched the two go. It wasn't long before they disappeared into the depths of the forest and the outlines of their figures became consumed by darkness. All the while, Leaf made no effort to stop them as the flames of fury continued to burn in her heart.

A few minutes later, though, they slowly began extinguishing. As they did, one thought became increasingly prominent in Leaf's mind.

_What have I done?_

* * *

dun dun dunn drama llama

may and leaf have a tendency to lose their partners for one reason or another, huh

anyways omg I'm sorry that this is like a week late. D: I've been pretty bad with my updates lately (my fails have been more prominent on my main account) ahaha but I'm trying to change that, I swear, it's just that life...yeah

thank you guys tons for reviews/faves/alerts! it's absolutely wonderful to see an email of that sort in your inbox, as you guys know, too. :) I wish I could review all of you guys too but life...yeah.

anyways :')

Thanks for reading and until next time,

-Apheleia


	12. Chapter 12

It was silent in the grassy forest meadow. Trees circled the small clearing, and the deer bent its neck to take another mouthful of the delicious grass sprouting from the ground. It stood back up, munching contentedly on its food. Its ears occasionally swiveled around, hearing the rustling of a bush or the wind through the leaves. All was calm in the forest, so the animal bent down to eat more grass, assured that there was no danger about.

Then, a large shadow engulfed the clearing.

The deer's head jerked up, its ears flicking back and forth as it looked around wildly. Its limbs were tense, ready to run, and when a gust of wind blew down on the creature it finally sprang away, fleeing into the undergrowth.

A second later a large obsidian paw smashed into the ground right where the deer had been standing just moments before.

_Damn it, _Azreth snarled, watching as his prey disappeared into the trees. _That's the third time it's gotten away from me._

"Calm down, it's only a deer," a voice behind the dragon drawled, and Azreth turned his head to watch as Gary climbed over a fallen log and stepped into the clearing. "'Sides, I just found a bush full of berries over there," he proudly announced, holding out a hand of ripe blue berries as proof.

_Well I, as a _dragon_, prefer meat over a pitiful handful of berries, _Azreth snorted, glaring at his rider as he stretched out his wings, preparing to take flight again. _You can go and collect all the berries you want, but _I'm_going to go catch some _real _food._ And with that the dragon beat down hard with his wings, lifting himself off the ground.

Gary frowned as Azreth ascended, flying up above the trees before disappearing in the direction the deer had gone. Ever since Gary had fought with Leaf and then stormed off, Azreth had been in a foul mood. He knew it was because his dragon had taken a liking to his partner and her dragon, and didn't want to leave them.

Ex-_partner_, Gary sourly thought, his nose wrinkling as he thought of Leaf. It had been a week since their fight – not that Gary was keeping count or anything – and any thought or mention of Leaf had brought a bitter taste to his mouth.

"It's not like Azreth and I need that little bitch anyways," he grumbled as he climbed back over the fallen log. "I don't see why 'Reth threw such a fit after we left 'er and Bandanna. The _last_ thing we need is an injured, dumb idiot to hold us back when we're fugitives running for our lives. She'd probably die from that wound soon anyways – or for being stupid and fighting somebody else's battle – even if we _had_ stayed."

Then the mental image of Leaf's dead corpse flashed through his mind, and Gary instinctively flinched. "Okay…maybe she won't die…" he mumbled, slowly trailing through the woods, hands in his pockets. "I… wouldn't like to see that."

Gary stopped, blinking when he realized he was already in front of the bush filled with berries that he had found earlier. Suddenly hesitant, he reached out and plucked a berry from the bush and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly.

As he chewed, lost in thought, his hand subconsciously reached up to his chest, right where his partner pendant used to lay. It was a…weird feeling, he thought, not being able to sense his part– _ex_-partner, like he used to. To be honest, he had gotten used to Leaf's presence being there… Was this what May felt like, not being able to sense Drew? If it was, Gary suddenly understood what she was going through; not knowing where Leaf was or what condition she was in – especially with her wound – was starting to get to him…

Realizing what he was doing, Gary quickly dropped his hand back down to his side, and shook his head as if to dispel his thoughts from his mind. He looked around warily, as if somebody might have been listening in on his thoughts, before he let out a sigh.

"Let her fend for herself," he whispered, his hands tightening into a fist. "I-I don't need her."

* * *

"Leaf. Leaf, get up."

"Five more minutes…" the brunette groaned, rolling over and away from the voice. However, that action sent spikes of pain shooting from her wound, chasing away any drowsiness that had clouded her mind before and waking her up completely.

Wincing, Leaf opened her eyes and slowly rolled back over onto her back to see May kneeling beside her. "You okay?" her friend worriedly asked, and Leaf nodded in response. "Well come on, then. Alkali said that Lithium sensed some of Vesuvius's men in the area, so we need to get out of here fast."

"Help me up, then." Leaf reached out her hands towards May, and said girl stood up before taking her friend's hands and slowly, carefully pulling her onto her feet. Leaf was already panting from the effort that took, and though her wound stung a little, she managed to stay standing up on her own.

"Alkali, Lithium," May called out to the two dragons a small distance away. "Let's get going."

The two dragons hurried over; Alkali nervously looking over her crimson shoulder as if fearing somebody was going to leap out of hiding and attack them at any second while Lithium made a beeline straight for her rider, who had to grab on to May's shoulder before she fell over.

_Careful,_ Lithium fretted as Leaf grabbed on to her scaled side, getting ready to climb up onto her.

_I'll be fine, Lith_, Leaf assured her, though she gritted her teeth as she reached up to pull herself higher. She got about half up Lithium's side before she had to stop, breathing hard as perspiration gathered on her face. May worriedly watched her from where she had already mounted Alkali, and was about to encourage her friend to continue when Leaf started climbing again.

Once she had finally settled into Lithium's saddle, Leaf relaxed, letting out a long sigh and wiping the sweat from her brow. After a week her wound had healed significantly and she was able to do a lot more than just sit up now, though it was still painful to do so. The first few days after Gary had left were definitely the days she struggled the most – not that she'd ever admit that – but things were a bit easier now. She just cursed herself because she hadn't realized how dependant she'd become on Gary before he left.

"Let's go," Leaf said, and immediately Lithium took off pounding across the ground, Alkali following behind her. True, it would have been faster to fly and certainly wouldn't have jostled Leaf's wound as much (each time Lithium hit the ground she winced) but it was safer to travel on the ground since they were less likely to be spotted there than if they were in the air.

For a while they ran in a line, Alkali behind Lithium, before May urged Alkali forward so that the two dragons were streaking through the undergrowth next to each other.

"Hey Leaf?" May called over the wind that whipped past them as the dragons ran. Leaf looked over at her friend, concerned it might be something about Drew, but was surprised by what May asked her instead. "Why did you and Gary have to fight?"

Leaf flinched upon hearing the boy's name, but quickly recovered. "Wha…what do you mean?" Leaf asked, confused.

May sighed, looking forward again. "Why did you have to argue with him and drive him away?" she asked, and noticed the way Leaf's brow furrowed upon hearing this. "I mean, yeah, it _did_ hurt me about what he said about…g-giving up on Drew-" Leaf heard the girl sniffle, and inwardly hoped she wouldn't start crying again. "-but I think we both know that we can't go on much longer like this by ourselves."

Leaf opened her mouth to protest, but May continued before she could. "Sure, we're fine right now, but Leaf…you're still struggling to do things as simple as _standing up_. What if we run into Vesuvius's men? We won't stand a chance against them. I…I know you're going to hate me for saying this, but I think we need to find Gary and get him to travel with us again. We _need_ a good fighter, and he _is_ your partner, so-"

"That bastard is _not_ my partner anymore!" Leaf spat. "He was the one who left us, so why the hell should we be the ones begging him to come back to us?" May's head jerked towards her, startled by her language, her sapphire eyes wide. "And just because I may be injured doesn't mean I'm useless! Plus we have Lithium and Alkali, so why do we need him to hide behind and fight for us?"

"Leaf, you have to think, though; if we're outnumbered by our enemies – dragons or not – we're going to lo-"

"No we're not!" Leaf yelled, and May trailed off, falling silent. "I hate depending on other people, May! I hate it! You should know that; you're my best friend!" Her hands balled into fists. "I want to fight to defend the people I care about, but if that idiot Oak is here he'll only try to keep me from fighting while he does all of the fighting himself! And it's frustrating, May, because as his partner, he should _trust_ m-!"

"_At least you still have your partner!"_

Leaf froze, her green eyes flickering over to her friend. May's face was flushed and tears streamed down her cheeks; immediately Leaf knew she had gone too far. "A-Arceus, May, I'm so sorry, I forgot-" Leaf guiltily began, but May cut her off.

"You're always complaining about how terrible of a partner Gary is, but at least you still _have_ him with you!" May cried. Leaf wanted to point out that no, she _didn't _have Gary with her at the moment, but didn't want to make May cry even more. "I don't even know if Drew is alive, for Arceus's sake, and to watch another partnership be torn apart right in front of me because of some petty argument is just- just- I just can't take it!" she screamed, sobbing uncontrollably. "Why can't you two just not fight? If all we're ever going to do is argue on this journey, all three of us might as well just travel separately with our dragons!"

"May…" Leaf trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"I just- I just don't know how we're going to survive like this, fighting every da-!" May suddenly stopped, and Leaf was concerned when she saw May's sapphire eyes widen, like she had just seen a ghost or something.

"May…?" Leaf ventured, confused about why her friend had just stopped talking, when Lithium suddenly skidded to a stop, as did Alkali.

_You two are both idiots! _Lithium roared in Leaf's head, and the brunette was surprised by the intensity of anger in her dragon's voice. _Leaf, May's right; arguing is getting us nowhere, and if _you two _start fighting now then we might as well be signing our own death warrants, because without teamwork and trust we're going to get ourselves killed. And that includes the deficient human, too._

_B-but Lith…_

_No buts! Now apologize! _Lithium barked, and Leaf flinched before turning to look over at May, who nervously glanced at Leaf.

Lithium flashed an image of a deer she had caught and ripped the head off of in Leaf's mind, and Leaf jumped at the gory mental image before she squeaked, "S-Sorry May! You're right, and I'm really sorry about reminding you of Drew…"

May looked uncertain, but then she too jumped in fright (Alkali probably put a gory picture in her head, too) and said, "I-I'm sorry, too! I really shouldn't have brought up your argument with Gary, since it's really none of my business…"

The two girls paused, an awkward silence gathering between them as they avoided looking at each other. Then, they accidentally caught each other's eyes, and froze for a second before May cautiously smiled, and Leaf slowly mirrored her actions. Already they could feel the tension draining away, and May chuckled a little.

"Arceus, I can't believe we were really stupid enough to almost split because of tiny little argument!" May laughed, and Leaf laughed too, although a small part of her mind reminded her of why Gary had left, and she momentarily felt idiotic and guilty.

But then she shoved that part of her mind into a corner and continued to laugh with May.

"Yeah, I mean, we're best friends, and yet we almost let an argument like _that_ get between us?" Leaf grinned, already feeling her spirits lifting. Hesitantly, already dreading how cliche her words were going to sound, Leaf murmured, "Hey May, let's promise that no matter what, we're not splitting up, okay? No matter the reason."

May nodded, smiling. "Agreed."

* * *

In a short amount of time Gary had managed to gather a large amount of berries, and was rather proud of his efforts as he surveyed the large pile of berries in front of him.

_This should last a while,_ he smugly thought, but then was struck with a problem. "Wait a minute…how the hell am I supposed to carry this all?" he asked himself out loud, scratching his head. "All of the bags and sacks are tied to Azreth's saddle, and he's off who knows where right now…"

Gary frowned, trying to think of solution for the next several minutes, when suddenly he heard a rustle in the undergrowth behind him. He quickly looked over his shoulder, eyes narrowing and hands flying to the hilt of his sword at his waist, and fell silent as he waited for any other noises to be heard.

After a while of only hearing the sound of the wind, Gary relaxed, letting go of his sword and turning back to his pile of berries.

He blinked.

It wasn't there anymore.

Immediately his senses were on high alert, and he barely had time to grab the hilt of his sword again before he felt the cold metal of a blade press against his neck. Drawing in a sharp breath he kicked his assailant's shin, and when the person – a man, by the sound of his voice – let out a cry and the sword dropped from his neck Gary spun around and pulled out his sword, lashing out at his attacker. However, the man was fast, and despite Gary's previous attack he managed to leap back before Gary's blade hit him.

As Gary stood there, sword out and ready to attack, his eyes took in everything about his assailant. The man was thin but still had some muscle on him, and had a sword of his own in his hand. He was clothed in all black, and Gary recognized with a start that it was the exact same outfit that the people who attacked the academy had been wearing. This guy worked for Vesuvius.

He gasped quietly, but knew that the man had heard it and was smirking underneath the black cloth that was covering his mouth just by the way lines formed around his eyes.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here…?" the man chuckled just as two others dressed like him appeared on either side of Gary, weapons drawn. "An escapee from the Savoir Faire Academy, hm?"

Gary gritted his teeth, his eyes flickering between the three that stood in front of him. He forgot that the symbol of the academy was sewn into the jacket he was wearing, or else he would have trashed it long ago so it wouldn't be noticed in a situation like this. His grip on his weapon tightened as all three of them took a step closer, surrounding him.

"Shit."

* * *

Crumbled buildings and fallen pillars lay among the wreckage and debris. The fires were long put out, but burn marks still scorched the ground and dead bodies of dragons and humans lay scattered about—some in academy uniforms and others in all black.

He sighed as he surveyed the ruins of what used to be the Savoir Faire Academy, sorrowfully looking through the cracked lens of his spectacles at the corpses of the academy's younger students. Nearly none of the dead academy students were above their fifth year, and he had to wonder what _he_ was planning to do with the older students-the ones missing from the dead. Maybe if he had just surrendered, all of these young children wouldn't be dead right now…

"Ah, Dippet, what a pleasant surprise to see you here."

Dippet turned, his tattered robe brushing against the ground, and narrowed his eyes at the shadow-swathed figure in front of him. Although he couldn't see any of the person's features underneath the shadows, hearing their voice was enough.

"Vesuvius…I never expected you to come all the way out here."

Vesuvius chuckled in his deep voice, and Dippet knew he must be smiling wickedly beneath all of those shadows. "Actually, I was hoping to…gain some information from you."

Dippet's tone was harsh. "What sort of information?"

The man glided forward across the ash-covered ground, but stopped a respectable distance away from Dippet. "Since your academy is in ruins I am hoping you will give up the information willingly." Vesuvius smirked. "After all, you must be guilty enough already since all of these children died because you did not simply surrender when my messenger brought you that message…the one stating when my men would attack your academy. What can a little more guilt do?"

Dippet gritted his teeth. He did not like where this was going. "Vesuvius, what do you want?"

The king smirked. "Information on the princess."

Dippet's eyes darkened. "Why are you asking me for information on the princess? What would I know about her that you don't?"

"Oh, Dippet, my old friend…" Vesuvius laughed. "I know that the princess attended this academy, so certainly you must have known what her name is, and where she is now."

"How do you know that she is not one of the dead laying around your feet?"

"Because even I know that you are not stupid enough to let one of royal heritage die so easily."

"Either way I won't tell you anything about her," Dippet murmured, eyes locked on the merciless king in front of him.

"Oh, and I know you won't." Vesuvius replied with a silky voice. "But that's why I brought Firinne with me."

Dippet's eyes widened. _"Firinne?"_

"Yes, Firinne. Im surprised you remember her," Vesuvius laughed. Then, he made a sweeping motion with his arm. "Now, Firinne, attack him!"

* * *

Dippet finally collapsed, sending a cloud of ashes into the air as he hit the ground. Vesuvius smirked once again upon seeing the old professor's dead body among the ruins of the academy.

"Good job, Firinne," he purred. "Now I have the information I needed. Let's go."

The king turned, the shadows around him swirling and changing like some sort of mystical fog. He practically glided over the rumble, and was heading towards the forest when something caught between two pieces of fallen stone caught his eye.

He bent down and pulled the object free, holding it up so that he could see it better-and smirking once he did.

"This should be useful…" he chuckled, dropping a necklace into his pocket. A shiny pendant was attached to it; a swirl of red and green essences.

* * *

DENIAL, GARY. YOU'RE IN DENIAL. IT'S NOT JUST A RIVER THAT RUNS THROUGH EGYPT, YOU KNOW.

"That's _the_ _Nile_, you idiot!"

"…Shut up."

Ahem. Well. _Anyways_…

More plot! Yay! :D And lots of things are happening with Gary… and Leaf and May, too… BUT THEN OMG WHAT'S THIS WITH DIPPET AND VESUVIUS? D:

I'll leave you to wonder what's going to happen next. ;)

-AquaStarlight


	13. Chapter 13

A strangled cry escaped from Gary's mouth as he fell to his knees. One arm was limp while his other clutched his triceps in an attempt to somehow stop both the searing pain and the bloodshed.

He was aching and panting and bleeding with scrapes and cuts and wounds all over, or else he could've totally taken the lone sword at his neck. He flinched when the black-clad figure in front of him began teasing him by increasing and releasing the pressure on the blade, the tip digging slightly into a spot right above Gary's Adam's apple.

"Now," said the man who had Gary at his mercy. Breathily, he continued, "Looks like that old fart Dippet hasn't done _too _bad a job teaching you little buggers."

Clenching his teeth, Gary hissed, "It was _three_ versus _one_, _bastard_. You guys can't fight fair so you gang up? _Cowards_. That's all any of you are. Cow—" He was abruptly cut off by a blow to his head and, almost immediately, he crumpled to the ground unconscious.

The figure who previously had Gary at swordpoint eyed the perpetrator disdainfully. "The hell are you doing?" he said dryly.

The black-clad man who knocked Gary unconscious shrugged, aimed a kick at the fallen brunet's leg, and replied flatly, "Always hated kids."

* * *

Leaf stood motionless as she watched the figures. Despite the fact that they couldn't have been more than a few meters away, it was strange how there was a remarkably dense fog separating her and the other two people. Her subconsciousness registered that she recognized them, yet it was her conscience that was being incredibly slow on the uptake and, as a result, she couldn't _quite _place the current centers of her attention to names. The figures were talking, and though their voices were gradually becoming more audible to Leaf, the words still faded in and out a bit.

"...it," came a voice, unmistakably that of a girl's.

"What are you say...'een?" came another voice, unmistakably that of a boy's.

_Een? _thought Leaf. _What's "een" supposed to be?_

"Prove it. Fight me."

_This sounds weirdly familiar..._

"Relax your position, Green. I'm not going to fight you."

Suddenly, Leaf remembered where this was from. Her eyes widened with the realization, and suddenly, she could make out vague facial features on "Leaf" and "Gary".

"For _Arceus' _sake, Leaf, just _don't _do that again, okay? Let me take the hits," continued "Gary", and Leaf could see that all-too-familiar anger and frustration beginning to rise in his eyes. "You can't always be the hero."

"We're _partners_, Gary. Don't you think the least you could do is trust _my _abilities, too?" demanded "Leaf".

It was a strange feeling to be watching _herself_ say these things, and the deja vu of it all made it even weirder. It's just that this conversation seemed to following some sort of..._timeline..._

_ What if I'd rather save your life? _thought Leaf at the same time "Gary" angrily retorted, "What if I'd rather save your life?"

_You're_ impossible_. _"You're _impossible_."

_And what does that make you? Completely unreasonable? _"What does that make you? Completely unreasonable?"

_At least_—

"—my _friends _wouldn't think so."

Leaf couldn't help it. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about that night, that argument, ever since it happened, and as a result, every single stupid word had somehow been imprinted into her brain to the point that she could, apparently, _recite _it.

She wasn't sure why her cheeks were feeling a little funny and warm and wet.

"Like I care at all," snarled Gary. "So I guess there's no more need for _this _anymore, is there?"

Leaf watched, wide-eyed, as Gary tore off his pendant and flung it into the endless gray foggy distance. A faint splash rang through the air a few moments later, though as far as Leaf could see, there was no water anywhere.

And then "Leaf" began screaming. "_Fine _then! Just _leave_! You moronic, _fatuous _idiot! I never needed you! None of us did! You can just...just die_, _for all I care!"

"Gary" slung his bag over his shoulder.

_No..._

Then he began walking—not towards "Leaf", but to Leaf. His eyes looked straight past her as he headed in her direction.

Suddenly completely frozen, all Leaf could do was watch as he approached her. No coherent thoughts formed in her mind.

When he was a foot or so away from her, he opened his mouth. Immediately, Leaf put her hands up to her ears and squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to block out the inevitable words, but it was useless. Despite how hard her palms were pressed against her ears, his words rang clear as a bell.

_I'll see you in hell._

Leaf wasn't sure if the pleads and shouts and sobs and apologies were hers.

_I'm sorry..._

"Leaf? _Leaf!"_

"H-huh?" stammered Leaf awkwardly as her eyes flashed open to drink in the sight of May looming worriedly over her.

"You kept saying something in your sleep and, well, it sounded like a nightmare...so I thought that, as a good friend, it was my duty to relieve you of it," she chirped.

"Yeah...thanks," muttered Leaf as she rubbed her eyes and sat up. She handed her blanket to May's waiting hands. "Thanks."

"Mhm," said May airily as she ambled over to their bags. She quickly stowed away the blanket, pulled out a water skin, and tossed it to Leaf. "Drink up. We're going downstream later to refill anyways."

* * *

Gary began to stir. As he came back into consciousness, though, he found himself wishing more and more that he wasn't. The right side of his head was throbbing like _crazy_—scratch that, _everything _hurt and ached like crazy.

Blearily, he opened his eyes and immediately saw that he was in a chair. His legs were—oh, how _cliche_—bound by rough rope to a leg of the chair, and he could feel more rope tying his wrists together behind him. A quick scan of his whereabouts told him that he was in some sort of small cave. The light that peeked through the small holes and cracks in the walls let Gary see the few figures scattered throughout the cave, all of whom he identified as being Vesuvius's minions, doing miscellaneous things. He ground his teeth, despite the fact that his sore jaw ached in protest.

How was he going to get out of here?

_Azreth? Aye, Az_—

_ Gary? You little_—_where are you? You worried me! _came his dragon's growl of a reply.

_Looks like some cave..._

_ Then get out of there and come back, idiot. It's been an _hour _since I felt you at all. What the hell are you doing?_

_ Sorry, I'm a little _tied up_, _Gary hissed.

_With _what_?_

Rope, _thanks a lot_— but his thoughts immediately froze when he felt the cold blade of a metal sword press lightly against his neck. He clenched his teeth and sent a mental picture of his situation to Azreth, who was silent, but Gary could feel the shock and horror dawning on his dragon.

"Finally up, kid?" whispered the swordbearer menacingly in his ear. A chill went down his spine at the feeling of the person's breath on his neck, but a far part of his mind was intrigued—by the sound of the voice, this was a _girl_.

"The magic of your beauty woke me," he mumbled. He heard a tinkle of laughter from behind him. As the girl walked around him and finally entered his peripheral vision, he could see that she sported a short, red pixie cut, had sharp gray eyes, seemed no more than a few years older than him, and was, of course, wearing all-black.

She seemed like the type who wouldn't think twice about taking his life, but he could still appreciate her attractiveness, right?

"You're a sweetheart, aren't you?" she chuckled, raising her hand to brush Gary's cheek though her other hand was still keeping the sword pressed against Gary's neck. Leaning in a little closer, she whispered, "What a shame..." She didn't need to finish her sentence for Gary to know what she was suggesting.

_What a shame that we're going to capture/kill/do something horrifying to you._

"Doesn't have to be this way, beautiful," said Gary hoarsely, and he could feel the others in the cave watching them.

The girl chuckled and patted Gary's head. "I'm sorry, sweetie, but flattery won't get you many places right now."

_Damn._

"_But_...if you tell me what I want to know, then I promise I'll make it quick and painless," she said with a sweet—yet completely coy—smile.

"Depends on what you want to know," said Gary, trying to avoid swallowing because of the blade pressed against his throat, but there were nerves that were quickly getting the better of him. "For example...I could tell you that the men in your section can't even win against a sixteen-year-old without not making it a fair fight."

"Oh, I know," said the girl nonchalantly. "They're completely useless...but at least they brought me you," she added with a smile, ignoring the coughs and growls she received from the other men in the background.

Gary smiled wryly. "Right...it's like it was fate, huh?"

The girl laughed. "Exactly. Now, tell me...are there others with you? Other students? Your friends?"

"No." Well, it was true.

"Hm...have you _seen_ any of your...peers?"

"No," he said smoothly.

"Mm...how do I know you're not lying?"

"How _do _you?"

She smiled a sickeningly sweet smile and, for a moment, nothing happened.

And then Gary was shouting, and his body automatically tried to pull into a fetal position, but the rope around his wrists and legs prevented that. Agonizing jabs of sharp pain were suddenly relentlessly attacking his brain, and some part of Gary recognized that this was all mental. Even so, the pain was like nothing he had ever felt before—it was dozens of thick needles pounding away at his mind. His body tightened, his eyes squeezed shut, and he shouted and growled and screamed in pain and just when he swore he was about to black out, the pain suddenly stopped.

"That's how," murmured the girl as she reached out to gently wipe drops of sweat off of Gary's face as his breath came heavily. "So...two girls named Leaf and May?" Gary froze. "Have you been cheating on me?" she teased lightly.

A wave of horror washed over Gary. _She got into my mind?_

"Now...won't you stop lying to me?" she said gently, innocently, and Gary suddenly felt a swell of anger rise within him.

"If you can get into my brain like that, then you'd know that we separated days ago," he made out through clenched teeth.

"Oh, I do, but I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about the fact that you were cheating on me," she said with an amused smile.

"What are you talking about?"

"The girl with the long hair...Leaf?"

Gary stilled. "What about her?" he asked cautiously.

"I think you know," she chuckled. Without waiting for Gary to reply, she continued, "So here's the deal. If you come with me willingly, then I promise we won't search for them and we'll even turn a blind eye to the area." Leaning in closer, she whispered, "It's your chance to be the hero, Gary...Pay her back."

Gary flinched. "Go with you where?" he whispered.

"Where else? Vesuvius, of course. Your power and ability is very impressive, it's a shame we attacked your academy before you were able to complete your training... With a little help from us, you'll go farther than you could ever imagine."

"What if I say no?" said Gary, narrowing his eyes.

Smiling amicably, the girl said, "You'll either become a slaveof Vesuvius's...or you die. Of course, I don't think you'll say no. _She _means too much, doesn't she?"

"It...would only be paying back the favor," mumbled Gary, staring at the ground.

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Not that it'd be much help, anyways," said Gary, surprising her. Staring defiantly, he continued, "It's been weeks since I've seen them." _More like one_ _and a half. _"They're probably long gone." _Leaf's hurt and they have more sense than to fly. _"I have no idea where they went." _They're probably still heading for Silverhaven. _"So you can see how sacrificing myself wouldn't help them."

"So valiant," mused the girl as she trailed soft lines on Gary's face with her finger. He shivered in response. "But I've had my fair share of liars."

Suddenly, the pain came back and began pounding at his head again, and he swore, if it was even possible, that it hurt even _more _this time.

An agonized yell tumbled out of Gary's mouth.

* * *

Lithium was lazing on a smooth, flat rock, one not unlike her favorite one that was in the corner of the Main Garden back at what used to be the academy. They had been traveling the entire morning, and May and Leaf had just decided to take a short break. May was a few steps away and searching the bushes for anything edible as Leaf refilled their water skins. Alkali was somewhere nearby hunting game, a decision Lithium couldn't understand for the life of her as there was a fabulous amount of fish a dragon could catch by lounging on the riverbank without moving much more than a tail.

_She _is_ a darling, but really...seafood is much tastier than game,_ thought Lithium as her eyes drooped and her tail swished lazily off the side of her rock. _In fact, her love for game reminds me of the beast's._

Suddenly, Lithium heard a quiet but relatively unnatural type of splashing. She smirked, revealing a few razor-sharp teeth in the process.

_The sound of something resisting the current_, she thought satisfactorily. And it was _so close _to her rock, too. _I didn't even have to move this time..._

In a flash, Lithium rammed the end of her tail into the water, spearing her prey. Expecting the familiar squish of fish innards, she was confused to feel instead something..._thin? _loop around her tail. As she slowly raised the object out of the water, she studied it suspiciously with narrowed eyes.

Not even half a second later, Lithium's eyes widened as she matched the mystery object to a name, a purpose, an _owner._

_Leaf, love? Come here..._

"Yeah, Lith?" said Leaf, looking over at her dragon. "What's up?"

Wordlessly, Lithium swung her tail around to show her find to Leaf, who stared at the object for a full second before dropping her jaw, standing up, and walking over to Lithium, all thoughts of water skins forgotten. Slowly, gingerly, Leaf reached out a hand to retrieve the object hanging from the tip of Lithium's tail and held it up to the sunlight as May ambled over as well. Both of their faces soon reflected pure awe and shock.

"No way," whispered Leaf, her eyes wide.

"Is this...?" began May as she reached up a hand to lightly brush the maroon stone that was the only decoration on the entire loop of silver chain. "I can't believe it..."

"It's...Gary's pendant..."

_I thought it was fish, so I picked it up_, explained Lithium.

"Lith thought it was fish, so she picked it up," repeated Leaf to May as she continued to marvel at the necklace hanging from her fingers. "I can't believe it's here..."

_The pendant was...being attracted to me, _said Lithium, causing Leaf to turn her head to stare at her. _I can't believe it either, but it was fighting the current to get to me, love._

_ I...I believe you, _said Leaf, though there was a slight bit of apprehension in her tone. "Lith says that the pendant was fighting the water to get to her."

"Lithium did?" said May, glancing over at the silver dragon before looking at Leaf again. "Well, that might make sense. It might be because of the magic and your bonds."

"No doubt, and since there's actually some of Lith's essence in here, too, then maybe that's why...maybe it's been gravitating towards Lith this entire time. Like, I don't know, like she's some kind of giant silver magnet or something, or maybe it's supposed to come back to _my _pendant, but either way..." Leaf trailed off as she lowered the necklace and put it in her palm. "...this is undoubtedly Gary's."

May smiled softly as she watched Leaf stare at the pendant. "Wow...who knew the pendants had such incredible magic? For them to naturally gravitate back to the other half when they know they've been thrown away." She paused. "You think Gary's going to come back, too? Just like his pendant did?"

Leaf chuckled wryly and looked at May. "What, because of some bond our dragons made?"

"Yes," said May, her face serious.

Leaf frowned and returned her gaze to the pendant in her palm. "I don't know."

"Well, what's meant to be will find a way, right? Besides..." A small, mischievous grin overtook May's face. "Maybe if you give it enough time, some weird super secret magic will start acting up in you guys until you're gravitated back together."

Leaf laughed, but quickly sobered a moment later. "We're not pendants, May. We're..."

She hesitated for a moment as she stared at Gary's pendant. Then, with a sigh, she closed her hand around the necklace and placed it against her chest, which was right beside where the stone of her own pendant was hanging.

"We're just human."

* * *

leaf you deep, profound person

also gary likes redheaded older women

and may is a genius

and lithium is lazy

and alkali once again does nothing. :'c

loljk but yeah hey, thanks so much for reading and reviews are, as always, super appreciated :)

-Apheleia

oh and fyi YOU'RE ALL WRONG ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE PRINCESS BECAUSE IT'S GARY


	14. Chapter 14

He was running, running fast and dodging trees and pushing past bushes that lashed him as he ran past, leaving cuts all along his arms and legs. He could almost imagine the people chasing after him; the calls into the woods and the roar of dragons echoed in his ears.

His breathing was labored but he pushed on despite the pain in his chest and in his legs, knowing that if he stopped somebody might catch him and take him to the capital, and then he'd never be free.

And because of that, he kept running as fast as he could. He didn't know how far he'd run or for how long, but it felt like he'd been running for hours and crossed miles since he had escaped.

No, not escape. Ran. Fled. He just wanted to get away from them. Nothing else mattered until he was away from them.

His footsteps were the only thing he could hear other than his heart, which was hyped up on adrenaline; a thump rang in his ears every time it gave a beat. Even as twigs snapped under his feet as he pounded over them he couldn't hear them—he was just focused on distancing himself from his pursuers.

_"Always follow your heart," he could remember her say to him as he sat in her lap, looking up at her with wide eyes as she smiled down at him with love and warmth. "Even when you're faced with two choices, your heart will always show you the right path to follow." And then she would smoothen out his unruly hair and plant a kiss on his forehead, which he would always squirm away from._

_"But what if it doesn't show me the right path, mommy?" he would mumble, burying his head into her shirt as she wrapped her arms around him._

_He could still remember the sound of her laugh. "Your heart always tells the truth, my precious little Gary. Even if you don't believe it, it does. Always remember that."_

His foot caught on a loose root and he stumbled, gritting his teeth as he slowed down and regained his balance. How far away were his pursuers now? Had he put any more distance between them yet? He prayed to Arceus they wouldn't catch up to him…

_"Gary, who do you trust?"_

_"Who do I…trust?" The little boy tilted his head sideways, confused. "Well…I don't know."_

_The man kneeled down to his level, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Trust is a very important thing, son, and no man or woman can survive without it. People need other people they can trust and rely on, but you have to be careful who you trust, because some people may betray that trust and end up hurting you in the end."_

_"Well then how do I know who to trust, dad?"_

_The man smiled and ruffled his hair, much to the child's annoyance. "There will be people that you meet in your life that you will have a connection with, and as you get to know them better you'll be able to figure out whether they want to protect you and help you and if you can trust them or not."_

_Look where trust got you now,_ he thought bitterly as he ran. _Look where trust got _me_ now- I'm running through a forest for my life and-!_

He tripped over a tree root, letting out a sharp yell as he hit the hard ground. He struggled to get back on his feet just as the reality of everything crashed down on him, and suddenly the searing pain in his legs became more pronounced, and the cuts on his arms and legs hurt that much more.

Flopping back down on the ground as pain coursed through him, he forced back the tears that had suddenly gathered in his eyes as emotion flooded over him, so much that he could barely take it all in.

He was alone, because they were dead and he thought he could trust him but he went and stabbed them in the back and he was all alone and in pain and he didn't know what to do and-

Gary jolted awake, his eyes flashing and limbs jerking as he gasped for air – his heart racing as if he had just sprinted a marathon. Wildly he looked around, not clearly taking his surroundings in, and began to freak out when tried to move and found he couldn't move his arms or legs.

It took a moment before his brain started to work and realized he was still tied to the chair in the same damp cave as before. For a long time he just stared at the ground, completely silent. Adrenaline still coursed through his veins as he tried to calm himself down, repeating, _It was just a dream. It was just a dream_, over and over again in his head.

_But that dream, I…I haven't had it in…_ Gary couldn't continue his thoughts, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Oh, my, my, is the prisoner finally awake again?" a voice whispered in his ear, and Gary's eyes flashed open in alarm. The redheaded woman let out a giggle at his almost instant reaction, and took a step back to examine him with a smirk on her lips. "Does your head hurt?" she questioned in a tone that sounded almost seductive to Gary's ears.

_Put your issues aside for now, Gary, and focus on this right now,_ he told himself. "And why would it-?" he began when suddenly he realized how terribly his head was throbbing, a dull pain in his mind. It wasn't that painful – just a headache – but it still made him uncomfortably shift in his chair and try to grab his head to ease the pain, though his hands were tied up.

The redhead in charge watched him suffer in amusement, her lips curved in a smirk. "So, did you have a nice sleep?" she teased, her hands fingering his chin and tilting his head upward.

"How long was I out for?" His voice sounded hoarse, scratchy. "Can I get something to drink, too?"

"About a day. Having somebody read your mind is pretty painful, huh? Knocks you right out." She smirked. "Oh, and no."

"If it's been a day, why are we still here? I thought you were going to take me to Vesuvius- or do you want some time alone with me, gorgeous?" He blamed too many hormones for his persistent flirting.

"You got my men a few times when you were fighting with them; their wounds are being treated before we-" Ms. Pixie Cut kept talking, but Gary's head was throbbing too much for him to really follow her words. And then another conscious just had to bust in and make his headache worse.

_GARY! _Azreth's voice was loud in his mind, making him wince. _You're not dead yet! Arceus, I thought you were a goner when I couldn't feel you again yesterday!_

_Thanks for having so much faith in me,_ Gary sarcastically replied, closing his eyes and leaning his head back.

_No, seriously, I thought you were dead._ Azreth's tone became serious. _I'm coming to rescue you, now that I can sense your location again._

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" the redhead playfully pouted, and Gary sighed before opening his eyes and giving her a lazy smile.

"Course I am, babe."

_Really? You are?_

_Yeah. I'm gonna smash right through that cave's roof and jack V-dawg's guys up. Then we're gonna get the heck out of there._

"Oh really? Then what did I just say?" she questioned, seductively skimming her hands up and down Gary's arm.

"No idea." Gary grinned. "Something about how I kicked your useless guys' asses, though?"

_Sounds fun. I'm still tied up, though._

_I know. Oh hey, cave coming into sight. Impact in five…_

She laughed her tinkling laugh. "Yeah, something like that."

_Four…_

"So do I still have a say in whether I'm going to Vesuvius or not?"

_Three…_

"Well, what about your little girlfriend out in the forest?"

_Two…_

Gary gritted his teeth. "I thought you and I had something special though, didn't we?" he asked in a hurt tone.

_One._

"Maybe," she giggled, winking at him.

_Zero._

Gary smirked as a loud bang echoed through the cave and the wall shook. The expression on pixie girl's face was hilarious as she looked around wildly while small rocks and chunks of dirt started to rain down from the roof around her.

The other men scattered around the cave shot to their feet, hands on their weapons, but Gary innocently whistled, "Swords won't be very effective against this enemy, you know…"

"Do you know what's going on here?" the lead girl exclaimed, spinning around to face him as the cave shook again.

Gary smiled flirtatiously at her. "Of course I do. 'Fraid I can't tell you what, though." More rocks were raining down from the top of the cave, and when one particularly large one hit Gary right on the head he said, _Oi, Azreth, you're creating a rock hail storm in here, and it's ruining my hair._

_Such a drama queen, _Azreth drawled. _Don't worry; I've almost punched through the rock._

Sure enough, when Gary looked up, he could see rays of light shining through cracks in the roof, as well as the shadow of his black dragon. The cracks were getting larger and longer with every new hit Azreth made to them, and Gary knew he would break through any second now.

Following his gaze, the girl looked up; her eyes widened when she saw a large yellow eye peering through a large gap in the cave roof and staring right down at her.

Azreth grinned. _Hello._

And then he burst through the roof.

Pixie girl and her men cried out in alarm as the roof collapsed and large stones rained down on them, most of them diving for cover. Gary was nearly hit by one too, but he leaned to the left and instead of hitting his head, the boulder hit his right shoulder and the back of the chair, snapping it off.

Gary fell backwards and hit the ground, cursing as his shoulder throbbed in pain. A sort of dust smoke from when the roof broke filled the cave, but Gary knew when Azreth landed by the loud _BOOM_ that rang in his ears and shook the ground.

_Now the party can properly start, since I'm here!_ Azreth cackled madly.

_"Shut up and attack them, Reth!" _Gary yelled out loud and mentally at the same time.

_Fine, _Azreth huffed, but breathed fire into the dusty air, catching the attention of Vesuvius's men. They unsheathed their swords and ran towards the black dragon through the dust cloud, intent on drawing blood, although their swords only bounced off his shiny obsidian scales.

Meanwhile, Gary was able to free his hands from the rope after pulling it off of the broken part of the chair, and was trying to untie the rope around his ankles when pixie girl appeared above him, sword drawn and pointed at his neck.

"Whoa, hey, no need to point that thing at anyone- _AZRETH, NOW_!" Gary yelled, and without turning around the dragon whipped his tail around, hitting the girl and sending her flying into the wall with a sickening crack.

Gary winced as her body slumped to the ground, blood coating the side of her body that had hit the wall, but forced himself to focus on freeing his legs while Azreth distracted the other men.

As he managed to undo the knot on one leg Azreth batted away one man with his paw, hitting him into the wall, and curled his tail around another, throwing him across the cave. Gary pulled free the other knot and stood up, shaking the rope away from his ankles before running towards his dragon.

He ran towards one of the remaining men and right before he reached him he dove to the ground and slid, knocking the man's legs out from underneath him, before doing a roll and jumping back on to his feet and scaling Azreth in one fluid motion.

Sue him for wanting to do something dramatic.

_"FLY! FLY!"_ Gary yelled, kicking away one man who was trying to climb up the obsidian dragon's side. Azreth immediately responded, unfurling his wings and leaping into the air. He beat down hard with his wings, knocking the remaining men to the ground and propelling them out of the large hole in the cave's roof.

Azreth continued to gain altitude, wings beating furiously, and as they flew away, Gary peered back down at the totaled cave, still breathing erratically after that life threatening experience.

Flopping back down onto Azreth's saddle, he moaned, "I never want to see a redhead again."

* * *

"This seems like a good place to stop and rest," Leaf said approvingly, surveying the area around her from atop Lithium's back.

After another day of traveling towards Silverhaven from the ground, the group of two riders and their dragons had managed to find a sheltered area bordered by a small stream to rest at.

As May refilled their water skins (her and Leaf took turns filling them) and Alkali and Lithium rested before they had to set off again, Leaf decided to go into the forest just a little ways away so she could be alone for a while.

Gary's pendant weighed heavily in her pocket as she walked through the trees, and she could have sworn it felt like it was going to burn a hole through the fabric and into her skin. Finding a fallen log to sit on, Leaf sat down and reached into her pocket to pull out the necklace that matched hers.

However, as her fingers curled around the small stone and its silver chain, her hand brushed against another object – this one bigger with sharper angles and a rough feel to it. Curious as to what it was, Leaf let go of Gary's pendant and instead pulled out the other object.

She opened her palm to examine the object, and almost instantly her eyes widen. "This is…that package," she said in shock, recalling the mission she, May, Drew, and…Gary had gone on right before the academy was attacked.

Turning the box around and around in her hand, Leaf frowned as she stared at the package. She really didn't know what to do with it, since the academy was in ruins, so what use would carrying it around in her pocket do for her?

For a second, she was tempted to open it, but then she remembered the mysterious man's words. _"Keep it safe until the right time," _he had said.

"But when is the 'right time'?" she muttered under her breath. "It wouldn't matter though, since the academy is in ruins, so why does it matter it I open this or not…?" She played with a corner that was slightly ripped, debating whether or not she should open it.

She bit her lip, tearing the wrapping back just a little. "Nobody would care if I opened it, right? Yeah, nobody would," she tried to reassure herself as she ripped off just a little more. A smooth white surface showed underneath the ripped area, and Leaf just couldn't keep her curiosity at bay any longer.

She ripped the rest of the tan wrapping off, revealing a small white box with the engraving "_La Reine anneau_" on it in gold lettering and a fancy cursive script.

"_La Reine anneau_?" Leaf murmured under her breath, her eyebrows furrowing. "What language is that? Ah, hell, what does it matter? What's inside of this box?" Carefully, Leaf opened the lid, and was startled by what she found inside.

Inside the white box, protected by soft purple padding, lay a beautiful ring. The band was made of solid gold, and placed on it was a simply exquisite white gem the size of her fingernail.

"Why would something like this be in here?" Leaf breathed in awe, carefully holding up the ring to examine it. The gem sparkled as a ray of sunlight shining through the trees hit it, and Leaf was amazed by how brightly it glowed.

Looking at it, Leaf was struck with the urge to try it on. "It's not even my ring, though," she mumbled even as she slipped it on to her finger. Surprisingly, it was a perfect fit. She held out her hand to admire it, feeling a bit more energized and excited as it sparkled on her finger.

However, she really knew she shouldn't be wearing it, so she unwillingly took it off and careful set it back down in the box. Sighing, she closed the lid and stared at the white box for a long moment.

Then she slipped it back in her pocket and stood up, heading back towards where May and the dragons were.

* * *

Gary was examining his shoulder while Azreth was licking clean his wounds not far from him. After flying a good distance away from the cave they had landed in a small grassy clearing to check on their wounds, none of which were that serious.

Azreth had a few nicks and scratches and missing scales, but other than that he was fine. Gary's headache had somewhat subsided, but a large bruise was forming on his right shoulder from when the rock had hit him in the cave earlier. It hurt to move his arm a lot, but Gary knew the pain would go away in a few days.

Both dragon and rider were relaxing, assured that Vesuvius's men were too rattled up to chase after them, and Gary had nearly fallen asleep when he heard Azreth growl. His eyes flashed open and his hand flew to his sword beside him, which caused his shoulder to scream in pain and for him to wince.

Across the clearing stood about ten men all dressed in black and armed with weapons, and for a second Gary thought it was Vesuvius's men again – until he released their outfits, while also black, were different.

"Who are you?" he called out, forcing himself on to his feet. Azreth also got up on to his paws, ready to attack.

The man he assumed was the leader of the group stepped forward, a smirk plastered on his face. "Don't matter, kid, 'cause we're going to loot you and that dragon of yours of all of the stuff you have on you," he sneered. "So unless you want to fight us all, I suggested you turn out your pockets and those bags on your dragon's saddle and leave all your stuff here and then scurry on off."

Gary gritted his teeth, taking a step forward despite how he swayed on his feet. Damn, was he really that exhausted? No, it was because of the headache… "First Vesuvius's men, and now bandits?" he muttered under his breath. "Will I ever get a break?"

Speaking up, Gary growled, "Like hell I will," and slowly pulled his sword from its sheath, despite how his right shoulder protested. Since he was right handed and that's which hand he controlled his sword with, he knew he'd be at a disadvantage with his shoulder being injured, but he still had to try and fight. He couldn't let them take all of his and Azreth's supplies. "You're going to have to fight me if you want my stuff."

Beside him, Azreth let out a growl. _Who wants to die first?_ he asked.

The leader of the bandits smirked. "If that's how you want to play, let's fight. Men, attack!" he yelled, and all of the men behind him drew their weapons and rushed towards Gary and Azreth. Most of them focused on Azreth – him being a large, fire-breathing dragon – but a few bandits, including the leader, charged towards Gary.

"Three on one, huh?" Gary said to the three in front of him. "This is like yesterday all over again."

One bandit lurched towards Gary, trying to stab at him with a dagger, but Gary managed to deflect it and push the man away. Then another charged at Gary, sword drawn, and Gary nearly avoided having his head sliced off by ducking under the blade as it whizzed over his head.

The man slashed at him again, but this time Gary blocked the blade with his sword, forming an X between them. He gritted his teeth and tried to push the man back, but the man pushed back against him with the same amount of force.

Gary's shoulder was throbbing, though, and suddenly it gave out, giving the man enough time to shove him to the ground. Gary gasped and then hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of him. He struggled to get back on his feet, but before he could even get on his knees, a foot on his chest pushed him back down.

The leader smiled wickedly down at him, and in the background he could hear Azreth's roars as he fought the other bandits, but he knew his dragon was losing. Gary tried to call out to him for help, but he was just so exhausted and his head still hurt so much that he couldn't focus enough to send him a mental thought.

Another bandit appeared next to the leader, his foot drawn back, and Gary looked away and squeezed his eyes shut, knowing what was about to come next.

The bandit kicked Gary in the head, and immediately everything went black.

* * *

AAAAAHHHH I'M IN A RUSH RIGHT NOW AND I'VE GOTTA GO AND I WROTE THE ENDING REALLY FAST SO IF IT SUCKS THAT'S WHY. D:

Plus I have some bad news. :( Lots of stuff is going on in my real life so I hate to say it, but I have to quit fanfiction. That means that the next chapter that Apheleia writes is going to be the last chapter of SF, as I won't be there to write the next one. :( I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE YOU ALL AND STOP WRITING, THOUGH. ;A;

REALLY, I DON'T!

I hope I can return to fanfiction one day, though. :( But anyways, this chapter.

Leaf finds a pretty ring and stuff.

Fun.

Oh and Gary escapes too, with Azreth's help.

Of course then he runs into trouble again, though. :P

Looks like that's pretty much all, and so I'll say my farewells one more time. I'm gonna miss all you reviewers and Apheleia and writing stories and all that, and I hope you miss me too. Goodbye, fanfiction. :(

So...now I've gotta run, 'cause I really do have somewhere I have to be at. XD But before you do anything else, **go back and reread the first letter of every paragraph in the author's note. ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

An angry, violent, desperate roar flew out of Azreth's mouth at the sight of his Rider's limp body skidding a few inches due to the foot to the brunet's head. Mentally mouthing profane curses, the black dragon felt a rush of fresh adrenaline surge through him and he reared up, a stream of white-hot fire billowing from his mouth. Most of the flames burned away in mid-air, but a few embers fell away to light up nearby foliage.

"Oh, _shut up,_" snapped one of the bandits, casting a dirty, annoyed look at Azreth, who was quite ready to bite off the guy's neck. He growled and, despite his tiredness and injuries, crouched into an offensive stance to gain potential energy for when he would leap and lunge.

And then the giant dragon suddenly felt a numbness spreading through his body that, apparently, had a starting point somewhere near his butt. That same numbness seemed to be quickly turning into lightheadedness. Feeling faint and dizzy and left with no choice, Azreth involuntarily relaxed his offensive stance and swiveled his neck to peer back as well as he could at his rump with his eyes narrowed yet glazed.

A quick scan of his body told him that there was some kind of dart stuck at the source of the numbness as well as a smug bandit standing beside him near that area.

Even though he knew he had seconds left, with a low, frustrated growl, Azreth flung his hind leg forward, effectively hitting the bandit square in the back and knocking all the air out of the masked man. There was a sort of sickening crack before the man's body flung forward a few feet and then crumpled unnaturally to the ground.

There was a chorus of swearing from the remaining two men and Azreth listened to them with a smug tiredness as the internal clock in his body counted down the few seconds he had left.

"Aye, let's get out of here, man! We dunno how much that dragon's got left in him and _hell _if I want to end like Arceus damned Roth!"

"_Shut up_, you worthless coward! That thing's got half a minute left in him, _max_—look, he's already staggering. We'll loot him and the boy, and _then _go."

Sure enough, that Azreth was. His legs gave one by one and when the last one—his hind back leg—was down as well, his head lolled to one side, effectively crippling his balance. Sucked dry of energy and with his mind too tired to resist, he began falling helplessly onto his side.

The last thing he saw before everything blurred was the two bandits hovering over Gary's body and reaching for his weapons. The fact that they would soon be weaponless didn't quite register very prominently in Azreth's mind, however. No...more pressing was Gary's condition—bloody, beaten, bruised, sprawled... but even though the brunet was unconscious, there was something more disconcerting about him. Like the fact that his chest wasn't moving at all, and there was nothing else suggesting that there was even the slightest bit of air moving in and out of his lungs, and the boy was an unnatural sort of unmoving, even for an unconscious person. Gary was still. Abnormally silent.

_Lifeless._

With that last revelation, Azreth's world turned black.

* * *

There was a slight bounce in the boy's stride as he skillfully stepped from one slick rock to another until he was at the cascading curtain of water with his dragon trailing only a little ways behind him. After several months of practicing and perfecting (an amount of time they had never spent on one specific technique), Ceprien had, that morning, finally mastered the famed Fire ability of cloaking his entire body in both a defensive and offensive flame.

_ Proud of you, Cep_, he said as he leapt to the very side of the waterfall and jumped through a gap between the water and the bank. His skin tingled slightly when he made contact with the familiar invisible barrier, but nonetheless, the magic allowed him through and a second later, he had landed on the first rocks of the hidden cave behind the waterfall. Not long afterwards, Ceprien appeared beside him, shaking the unwanted water off of his scales.

_When are you not? _was the dragon's amused reply as the burgundy, nearly violet dragon plodded alongside his Rider and they headed deeper into the cave.

_Did you forget about that one time you almost blew up half the base? _said the boy, smiling slightly as he looked at his dragon.

A small puff of smoke flew out of Ceprien's nostrils. _Key word: almost._

_ You burned Touko's shoes, _he accused.

Ceprien looked at his Rider and snorted. _As if Titaia wouldn't have burned it out of clumsiness anyways. _The dragon paused as it looked straight ahead. _Speak of the lesser devil._

The boy's gaze matched his dragon's as he looked straight ahead of him where the girl Ceprien was referring to was walking towards them as she rummaged through her messenger bag for something. A moment later, she looked up and squarely caught his eye, grinning as soon as she recognized him.

_Maybe you're the clumsy one, not Titaia._

Ceprien snorted again in response as he bristled slightly. _Amusing._

They were almost at the end of the tunnel now and, therefore, almost at the base. Because of that, there were a few people busying themselves and hurrying about, with or without their dragons. Many gave a nod of respectful acknowledgement to him as they passed, and he returned the nods. Light was also becoming steadily brighter as he neared the tunnel exit and as he neared her, he was able to start seeing her features better and better.

"Hey," she greeted amiably when they were a few yards away from each other.

"Touko," he replied with a small smile, stopping when he was right in front of her. Noting that there were a few people nearby, he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against the brunette's forehead.

"Overkill much?" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes but smiling slightly at the gesture.

He shrugged. "Where are you going?"

"We got word that there were dragon sounds or fighting or something about a mile from here," she explained. "They sent me to check it out. It could be just some wild ones, but it could also be a messenger or someone who got caught up with those bandits around here lately."

"Is Titaia going with you?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "Nah...I don't want to attract attention. If it really is nothing, it'll be easier for me to slip out and back unnoticed. It it's something, then I'll call for her."

He nodded. "Be careful, then."

"Will do," she assured as she began walking past him.

"Hey, by the way..." he began after a few moments, prompting her to stop, turn around, and give him a questioning look. "How's the new guy doing?"

"Ahh...which one?"

"The one who got here a week ago with green hair."

"Ohhh, him," she said as she tapped her chin. "He's doing fine...he's still not really telling anyone much about himself, but he's talking and making conversation with people a bit more. By the way, I saw him starting to do some training with his dragon, and he's not bad. It's obvious he's had tutelage."

He nodded. "Good."

"Alright then," she chirped, turning around to resume her trek out of the base. "See you later, Red!"

* * *

"May? Is something about the area here...?"

The said brunette cast Leaf a sidelong glance, imploring her to continue. "The area here...?"

Leaf winced and looked to Lithium, who was trudging along the forest floor beside her, for help. The brunette sent a mental projection of her gut feeling to Lithium, who took a moment to ponder it.

After a pregnant pause, the dragon shrugged.

Leaf blew out an exasperated breath. "Well, I don't know, it's just...something seems off, you know? I mean, listen."

"I don't really hear anything," pointed out May.

"Exactly."

_Perhaps it's just a drowsy time of day? _wondered Lithium.

Leaf frowned. _Maybe._

"Hey, Leaf? Alkali says...Alkali says that this tree has slight burn marks," murmured May, and Leaf looked over to see the girl carefully examining and stroking the trunk of a tree that both May and Alkali were surrounding and peering up at. "Recent, too."

_Burn marks? As well as unnatural quietness... _Lithium looked at her Rider. _Leaf._

_I know, I know. Just the sight of a combative dragon terrifies regular woodland animals, not to mention all the fire_. Leaf looked up and over Lithium at May and Alkali. "D'you guys think there was probably a dragon fight around here?"

A small frown tugged at May's lips and she looked back at the tree again. "If there was, then there's either people around here or this is wild dragon territory, neither of which are that good. Leaf, how far are we from Silverhaven?" There was no answer from the girl. "Leaf?" called May again, this time turning her head to look at the said girl.

The said girl had suddenly turned rigid. Her eyes were wide, her mouth was slack, and her face was slightly white.

May furrowed her brow. "Leaf...?"

"I think I know which dragon it was," said Leaf weakly as she raised a trembling finger and pointed to a direction about seventy degrees to May's right.

May followed Leaf's finger and, if she squinted, could _just _make the dark silhouette of a fallen large dragon along with...

Along with a bloody, unnaturally still, lifeless Rider.

* * *

...well this was a short chapter xD haha sorry guys, just setting up for the next chapter, which is going to be a total awesome bomb ;)

Once again, thanks for reading/reviewing/faving/following, guys! :')

-Apheleia

(AquaStarlight: btw guys that last author's note on chapter 14 was an April Fools joke, for those of you who didn't catch it. XD I'm not leaving fanfiction and Savoir Faire isn't ending. :P)


	16. Chapter 16

Leaf felt utterly numb as she stumbled towards the outline of the dragon and rider, hoping, _praying _it wasn't whom she thought it was. But as she neared, she couldn't deny how familiar the shiny black scales of the dragon were.

"A-Arceus…no…" The words came out of her mouth, but they didn't sound like hers. They sounded far away, distant.

The pendant in her pocket shifted, pushing against the fabric of her shirt as it tried to move towards the bloodied rider lying on the other side of the clearing.

"O-oh Arceus…" She had to cover her mouth with her hands to stifle a sob as tears gathered in her eyes, slipping down her cheeks and falling to the ground.

She stumbled towards the figure, nearly tripping several times as she did so. The pendant's tugging became more insistent, pulling her towards the lifeless body on the ground. When she finally came to a stop in front of the person, she was shaking.

There was no denying who it was now.

"G-Gary," Leaf hiccupped, falling to her knees next to him. She reached out to brush some of his hair out of his face, but stopped when she saw her hand shaking uncontrollably. "Gary…" she whimpered, noticing the stillness of his body.

Across the clearing, Lithium timidly crept towards where Azreth's still figure lay.

_B-beast?_ she whispered, gently nudging at his head with her muzzle. _Beast…this isn't funny. Please…please get up… _She waited for a few seconds, but worriedly blinked when she received no response.

_A-Azreth…? Are you okay…?_

There was no response from the obsidian dragon from a long time, until suddenly:

_Only if you're next to me, beautiful,_ the black dragon mumbled, opening one drowsy gray eye to tiredly wink at the silver dragon. Lithium's icy blue eyes widened slightly, but narrowed only a second later.

_You take every opportunity you can to flirt, don't you?_ she growled, whacking him with her tail. He flinched away, wincing slightly, but was quick to reply.

_Well it's not every day I wake up to find a dragon as gorgeous as you fretting over me_, he said, giving the female a lazy smile.

Lithium's claws dug into the ground. _You're lucky you're already injured, or else I would attack you right now,_ she growled menacingly.

_I…what?_ Azreth began, when he suddenly remembered what had happened right before he passed out. Immediately, his eyes filled with fear. _Where's Gary? Is he okay?_

Across the clearing, Leaf huddled next to Gary's body. She couldn't help but recall her fight with Gary and what terrible things she had said.

_"You can just...you can just...just die, for all I care!"_

With more tears gathering in her eyes, Leaf rested her head on Gary's still chest, her hands gripping the fabric of his torn and bloody shirt. "You idiot," she whispered. "I never wanted you to actually die…" Her body shook as sobs wracked her body, their fight replaying in her head over and over again.

_"Fine, then!" she screamed at him as he passed by her and trekked over to his bag, an unreadable expression on his face. As he worked on gathering his things, Leaf continued, with angry tears in her eyes, "Fine! You...you...just leave! You...moronic, fatuous idiot! I never needed you, anyways! None of us did! You can just...you can just...just die, for all I care!"_

_And with that, Gary stood up with a jerk as he slung his knapsack over his shoulder. His cold eyes looked straight past Leaf as he began walking in her direction. He didn't slow when he neared her; in fact, he brushed right past her._

_The only thing he did to acknowledge her presence was snarl one thing when he passed her:_

_"I'll see you in hell, then."_

Her sobs only increased the longer she cried, echoing through the silent forest. The last things they had said to each other were so vicious, but if she had known that was the last time she would see Gary alive…

"I didn't mean it…I didn't w-want you to…to…" She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, and wiped her tears away with his shirt before pulling away and looking at his face.

He looked so peaceful despite the line of dried blood that ran down his face, as if he was only sleeping. Leaf bit her lip to keep her lip from trembling; new tears gathered in her eyes as she gazed at him. But the longer she stared, the angrier she felt.

Angry at him…angry at herself…

"You idiot!" she screamed, grabbing Gary's shoulders and shaking them viciously. His head simply lolled back from the movement, causing more tears to slip down Leaf's face. "I didn't want you to die!" she sobbed again and again, her voice breaking and she clutched his head to her chest. "I didn't want you to…"

Leaf wasn't even aware May was next to her until the brunette rested her hand on her shoulder. Still sniveling, Leaf looked up at May, who gave her the most painfully heartbreaking smile she had ever seen, which only reminded her that May was suffering, too.

Leaf blinked to clear the tears from her eyes as she thought about Drew. _But at least there's the possibility that he's alive, but Gary…_ she thought, which only caused her to tear up more.

Hugging Gary close to her and squeezing her eyes shut, she whispered once more, "I didn't want you to leave me…you weren't allowed to leave me…"

"Oh…really? Who's…the over possessive one…now…?"

Leaf froze, her eyes flashing open at the sound of the taunting murmur. In shock, she stiffly pulled away to see Gary's face clearly. His eyes were still closed, but as she watched, one viridian green eye slowly opened and met her gaze, a small smirk curling the corners of his lips.

For a moment, Leaf could only stare in shock, not even realizing her mouth was hanging open. And then she stammered, "Y-you…you…you've been alive this entire time? You asshole!" But even as she said this, a rush of relief flooded through her, followed by the overwhelming urge to hug him tightly and make sure she wasn't imagine this.

"Arceus you're such an idiot!" she cried, new tears – tears of joy – trickling down her face. "Never – _ever_ – do that to me again!"

Gary just gave her a weak smile, and she was about to shakily smile in return when his eyes rolled into his head; his head lolled to the side again and his chest stopped moving. "_GARY!"_ she shrieked, starting to freak out. "OHMYARCEUS GARY NO STOP YOU HAVE TO KEEP BREATHING DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE TH-"

She was abruptly cut off by a weak chuckle, and then Gary opened his eyes again. "Calm down. I'm just kidding, Leaf."

Leaf blinked in astonishment, and then slowly let a small smile form on her lips as she wiped the tears out of her eyes. "You're an idiot…" she muttered, but hugged him tightly anyways, smiling slightly when his arms wrapped around her as well.

A small part of Leaf wanted to stay like this forever, in Gary's arms, knowing they were both safe, but after thinking that thought Leaf hesitantly pulled away from Gary, her cheeks burning.

_Gary!_

Both riders looked up as Azreth – followed by Lithium – pounded over with a slight limp in his step, his eyes wide and alarmed. When he saw Gary sitting up and alive, though, he calmed down a fraction. Gary, however, hissed as the dragon spoke, his hand flying up to clutch his head.

"Are you okay?" May, who had previously been ignored up until now, asked the brunet as his dragon and partner hovered over him worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered through clenched teeth, closing his eyes. "I got kicked in the head, is all. No offense, Reth, but it hurts like a bitch when you mentally speak to me."

Azreth frowned and grumbled something, rolling his eyes.

"Well you don't look fine," Leaf retorted. "Whoever kicked you ended up making your head bleed." As she said this she traced a finger along the line of dried blood that ran down the side of his face, which Gary shied away from.

"That might've been from that crazy redhead or one of Vesuvius's guys, actually…" the brunet murmured more to himself, but Leaf heard him anyways.

"Vesuvius's guys?" she echoed in alarm. "Around here? Gary, as soon as we get away from here, you're telling me and May everything that's happened," she said in a demanding tone.

_…Since we went our separate ways,_ Gary couldn't help but add silently to himself, knowing that Leaf must be thinking the same thing. He was slightly surprised that she wanted to bring him with her after the terrible note they left each on last time, but couldn't think about it for too long before his head started to throb.

After pixie cut girl's mental attacks and the bandit's kick to his head, Gary seriously felt like his skull was about to split open and his brain explode from the pain. "Can we just…just stay here for a while?" he asked a bit breathlessly, laying back down on the ground again and clutching at his head. "Just until my head stops hurting so much?"

Even with his eyes closed, Gary could imagine the uncertain look on Leaf's face as she replied, "Well…I guess…but not for long. If Vesuvius's men are in the area…"

Gary chuckled softly, catching Leaf's attention. "Don't worry about them. They were probably crushed in that cave." Azreth smirked, letting out a proud puff of smoke.

Leaf and May eyed the two warily, and finally Leaf decided, "…I don't want to know."

"Anyways," she continued in a more serious tone, "we've got to-"

"Hey! What's going on over here?"

The three riders froze, their dragons immediately tensing and assuming offensive stances. May drew her bow and pointed it in the direction of the voice, arrow already notched, while Leaf protectively crouched in front of Gary, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Instinctively, Gary reached for his sword, too, but was shocked when he found that not only was his sword not in its sheath at his hip, but that the sheath wasn't even there at all.

"Damn it, those bandits really did ransack me," he growled under his breath.

Leaf's eyes slightly widened although her eyes stayed focus on the tree line, searching for enemies. "_Bandits? _Seriously, what the hell _happened_ to you while I was gone?" she exclaimed.

"Uh, guys, now's not exactly the time to start a conversation," May pointed out, scanning for any signs of movement among the trees. "And Leaf, keep your voice down."

Leaf pretended to pout, but became serious when a figure stepped out of the trees. Six pairs of eyes immediately locked on to the figure, ready to attack and defend at all costs.

A young woman probably only a few years older than Leaf – at least nineteen – and her companions stepped out of the trees, her blue eyes widening when she noticed all of the weapons and dragon glares focused on her. Her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail with a large strand framing either side of her face, which bobbed as she skidded to a halt from the jog she had approached at.

"Whoa, no need to jump to arms so quickly," she said, holding her hands up above her head in the universal "I surrender" position. She almost sounded a bit panicked as she said, "I'm not dangerous, I swear."

"Who are you?" Leaf demanded from where she was still kneeling next to Gary, her green eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Where are you from?"

The girl looked slightly startled from the rough tone in Leaf's voice, but answered her anyways. "My name's White," she said, and hesitated before adding, "…sorry, but I can't tell you where I'm from until you tell me who you are."

May glanced at Leaf, who had assumed the leader role of their group at the moment, and the two shared a look before Leaf cautiously stood up. "Why should we tell you who were are? How do I know you're not going to attack us?"

White rolled her blue eyes in exasperation. "Look," she said with a sigh, "I mean no harm, I swear, but I can't-!" Her eyes flickered over Lithium's saddle, and she gasped. Leaf tightened her grip on her sword and Lithium growled uneasily as the girl stared at her.

"That symbol..." White muttered, not daring to lower her arms as May's bow was still pointed at her. "That's the logo of the Savoir Faire Academy."

Leaf stiffened. She had forgotten the symbol of the academy was embellished on Lithium's saddle. "How do you know that?" she asked, uneasily readjusting her grip on her sword.

The girl ignored her question. "You guys are from that academy, aren't you?" Gary noticed the excitement that flashed through her eyes, which put him on extreme edge in his weakened state.

Without taking her eyes off the brunette a few yards away from them, Leaf questioned Lithium, _Should we trust her?_

The silver dragon replied instantaneously. _I don't really sense any danger or malicious thoughts coming from her, but I'd still be careful._

Leaf nodded almost unnoticeably, and cautiously replied to White, "We are. Now where are you from and what do you want?"

A grin broke out on the girl's face. Once again ignoring Leaf's question, she excitedly announced, "This is great! I thought I was just going to find some signs of a wild dragon scuffle out here, but instead I find you three! Ever since the academy fell-" All three riders winced at that. "-we haven't heard a word from anybody that was there. You guys _have_ to come back to the base-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait," Gary interrupted, wincing as he propped himself up on his elbow. "What the hell are you _talking _about? Who are you?"

The gleeful smile fell off White's face to be replaced with a serious expression. "Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I completely forgot to explain everything, didn't I?"

"Explain what?" May questioned suspiciously.

"I'm from the Silverhaven Resistance Base."

Leaf's hands loosened around her sword, and she nearly dropped the weapon in shock. May blinked, slowly lowering her bow to her side. The dragons uncomfortably shifted around as Gary stared at White in surprise.

"The…what?" Leaf finally, weakly managed to choke out.

"Silverhaven Resistance Base," White repeated calmly. "You guys look like you're sixth, maybe seventh years, right? Then you know about the other resistance academies and bases, right?" They nodded their heads dumbly. "Well then that makes everything a lot easier to explain!" White sighed in relief. "But before that, would you guys mind introducing yourselves? I'd feel weird if I didn't have names to refer to you guys as."

Leaf glanced at May and Gary, who looked back at her. "I'm Leaf," she uncertainly began. "Uh…Leaf Green. And that's my…_partner_-" Gary's heart skipped a beat. "-Gary Oak, and my friend, May Maple... Oh, and, uh, our dragons, too…"

"So." May cleared her throat. "You're a member of the resistance?" She pointed at White, who nodded. "Then what are you doing out in the middle of nowhere?"

White smiled. "There were sounds of a dragon fighting somewhere around here so I was sent to check it out. And thank Arceus I did, or else you guys would probably have been stuck out here for who knows how long. How long have you been out here?"

"…Two weeks, I think?" Leaf scratched the back of her head. "I really haven't kept track of the time."

_You liar!_ her conscious scoffed. _You've been counting the days ever since Gary left._

_No I haven't,_ Leaf bit back. _Shut up._

Arceus, she must be going insane if she had started arguing with herself.

"Anyways, it's been long enough." She shrugged. "You said you're from the Silverhaven Resistance Base, right? I didn't know there was one hidden there." _Though that would explain why that guy with the package was there, and how he mysteriously disappeared,_ she thought to herself. "My companions and I were trying to get to Silverhaven, actually."

"Really? I can bring you back to the base," White offered. "You guys look like you have wounds that need to be taken care of, anyways," she added, eyeing the trail of dried blood that ran down Gary's face and the bruises that covered him, as well as Leaf's stomach.

Leaf blinked and looked down at her stomach curiously, her brow furrowing when she saw the healing scar that ran across it. "I forgot about that," she mumbled under her breath.

"Is there food there?" May was quick to ask, a desperate look in her eyes. "Our emergency food is almost gone-"

"And mine got stolen." Gary shrugged nonchalantly.

"-and Leaf only lets me eat a little every day to preserve it!" she finished in a whine. "I've been starved!" she wailed.

An amused look twinkled in White's eyes as Leaf rolled hers. "Yes, there's food there," she assured the blue-eyed brunette with a laugh, and then brought two fingers up to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

"Just let me call my dragon, Titaia, and we can be on our way."

* * *

Leaf found it funny how just two weeks ago, her and Gary's roles had been switched.

Turns out the poor boy could barely stand – let alone ride a dragon – without feeling lightheaded, and like hell Leaf was going to let him ride on Azreth alone. She had already been terrified enough after seeing him out cold in the forest earlier; if she had to watch him fall off a dragon she'd probably have a heart attack.

No, that didn't mean that she cared about him.

…Okay, maybe just a little bit.

But just as a partner.

Because of this, Leaf sat on Lithium's back with Gary's head in her lap as he tried to fend off a massive headache that simply refused to go away. Lithium's wings beat in a lulling rhythm as they (as in herself; Alkali; Azreth; and White's dragon, Titaia) flew through the sky towards Silverhaven.

Azreth stuck close to Lithium, wanting to keep a close eye on his rider, while May and Alkali flew a good distance in front of them with White and her dragon Titaia.

Titaia was a magnificently beautiful white female dragon with stunning blue eyes just like her rider's, and was a fairly averaged-sized dragon, like Lithium. Her pelt was covered in a long, fur-like material that gave her the look similar to a well groomed cat with long, flowing fur. Before they had set off, while Leaf had been staring in awe at Titaia, White had told her that she was a fire-type dragon, even though she had the appearance of an ice-type.

The sun was starting to set, covering the forest below them in an orange hue. Leaf would have considered it a storybook setting, if not for the half-dead boy resting in front of her.

"Leaf, I think I have a concussion," Gary moaned. "I bet you five bucks I have a concussion."

Leaf sighed. "Gary, shut up."

"Yes ma'am."

It fell silent between them; the only sound came from the wind whistling past their ears. Leaf bit her lip and stared out towards the horizon, lost in thought.

Sure, she and Gary were together again (as in being in the same place, not _together _like dating, obviously, duh) but their argument from a week ago still weighed heavily on her mind. She felt like whatever had happened to him in their time apart was her fault, since she had basically started their argument.

"So…" she trailed off, glancing at Gary's face. He opened one eye to look at her, his face slightly scrunched up from the pain of his headache. "What exactly happened after you…y'know, _left?"_

Gary sighed, closing his eye again. "Long story. I'll tell you later."

Leaf bit her lip. "Okay…I guess."

Once again they fell into an awkward silence. Leaf didn't really want to break the silence, but she knew that she would have to apologize sometime, and wanted to get it over with.

"Look." She let out a long sigh. "About our…argument…" She paused to glance at Gary, when she noticed that he looked like he was on the verge of sleep. Eyes widening, she lightly shook his shoulder, trying to keep him awake. "Whoa, hey, c'mon Gary, you've got to stay with me...you can't fall asleep when you're in this condition…don't fall asleep, fight it...stay with me!"

After a second the boy shifted, his eyebrows furrowing before he slowly opened his eyes, letting out a groan. A brief smile appeared on Leaf's face before it disappeared, and she felt terrible all over again.

Knowing that the brunet's eyes were on her, she confessed, "Arceus, Gary, I…I seriously haven't been able to get our fight out of my head. I just- It's my fault, really, I know that, but we were all on edge when it happened, and I don't know, I just needed to let my anger out, you know?"

Gary closed his eyes, but smirked and nodded slightly to let her know that he was listening.

"I mean, what with all that happened at the academy and Drew being captured and May being depressed…" Leaf trailed off, looking down and sighing. "I didn't realize how badly May and I needed you until after you had already stormed off."

"Hm?"

Leaf laughed quietly. "Those first two days after you left May and I couldn't get anywhere. I could barely even move because of my wound." This perked Gary's attention, and just then he realized something.

He hadn't noticed before – maybe because his head had been throbbing so much – but Leaf's wounds didn't seem to be ailing her anymore.

"Hey…how's your wound?" he asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

Leaf paused and looked over at him, startled, before she recollected herself. "Uh…it's better," she mumbled. "It doesn't really hurt anymore."

"Ah." Gary nodded slowly, and then looked away. He couldn't help but think about what he had told her every time he saw her wound (or, since it had healed, for the most part, the scar left behind from it):

_Let _me _take the hits._

_Don't be a hero, Leaf._

He sighed; he knew Leaf was stubborn and would always refuse to agree to this, but that didn't mean that still he wasn't going to try and keep his partner out of danger. A shiver ran down his spine as he thought of pixie cut girl, and what would have happened had she chased down Leaf and May and captured them.

Before he could dwell any longer on his thoughts, though, he was distracted as Leaf continued to ramble out an apology. Apparently she had been thinking about the same thing that he had.

"Maybe I shouldn't have tried to be a hero, like you said," she was saying, "but I just can't bring myself to stand back and watch as my friends and the people I care about are injured in front of me. I know you disagree, but Gary, I-"

"Stop." Gary cut her off. He closed his eyes and rested his head in her lap. "Just…stop." He let out a sigh. "It's both our faults, okay? And I'm sorry. I was being an inconsiderate prick, leaving you and May alone when you were injured and could barely move. I hate to admit it, but I've been worried about you and your wound ever since I first stormed off. I just…what you said…I have trust issues, and…" He stopped, releasing a sigh that was more irritated than the first one. "Anyways, now we're back together again so can we just…forget about that fight and go back to being partners again?" He opened his eyes and gazed up at Leaf with a begging expression. "Please?"

To his surprise, Leaf only stared at him in shock for a few seconds before a small, barely noticeable smile curled the corners of her lips. "Fine," she agreed. "But no more nearly dying on me again – or faking death," she sternly added, glaring at him. He smiled lightly before closing his eyes again.

"Oh, wait, before I forget…!" Leaf began, reaching into her pocket and feeling around a bit before wrapping her hands around a smooth, circular object. She pulled out Gary's pendant and opened her palm to show it to him; he gasped and nearly choked when he saw it lying there in her hand.

"My pendant? But I thought I threw it into a stream!" Gary said, glancing at the pendant and then Leaf before looking back to the pendant again. "How did you find it?"

Leaf shrugged. "Lithium found it, actually. She was dozing off by a river and sensed it pushing through the current towards her, and stabbed at it thinking that it was a fish. May and I assumed that whenever a pendant is lost or thrown away the dragon essence inside of it draws it to where the other necklace or dragon is."

"Interesting," Gary murmured as Leaf slipped the pendant's chain over his head. Almost immediately he felt another conscience connect with his, and knew that his connection with Leaf was restored. He let a relieved smile play on his lips as Leaf leaned back and announced, "There, now we're officially partners again!" and smiled at him.

"Yeah, we are," he murmured under his breath, making sure that Leaf didn't overhear him. "I don't think I ever actually wanted us to not be partners again, anymore…but trusting each other…"

"Trust…what?" Leaf asked, hearing only the end of what he was saying. "You're always mentioning trust, but never saying anything else about it. What gives?" Obviously, after talking with Azreth, Leaf already knew that Gary had trust problems, but that didn't mean that she still didn't want to know exactly _why_ he had them.

Gary scowled and looked away, and for a second Leaf thought she had upset him by asking that and now he was going to ignore her, but to her surprise he started talking after a moment of silence.

"I…my parents were killed when I was nine," Gary sighed, closing his eyes as he recalled his past. Leaf froze, realizing she had called attention to a very delicate subject. "They were murdered right in front of me. They…my dad always taught me about trust, and my mother about love…"

Leaf gulped, and then hesitantly stroked Gary's hair in a comforting way to make him feel better.

"Ever since then I haven't trusted anybody – save Azreth," Gary bitterly explained. "Love is just a scam, Leaf, remember that."

Leaf bit her lip, her mind suddenly recalling her conversation with Gary when they were out on their first mission:

_"Two people who love each other would do pretty much anything for the other person… some would even give up their lives, wouldn't they? But it's inaccurate because we're human, and because of that, those feelings never stop changing… and before you know it, they've left and abandoned you with a hole in your heart," he said. Leaf could've sworn she detected a trace of bitterness in his words. "It's not our biological instinct to care for other people, either. We're still animals, and when it comes down to it, we only care about our own survival. Everyone else – if they still matter – comes after. Even now, you and I are paired up so we can get better at defending ourselves and, basically, take advantage of each other until we can survive on our own better than we would've before."_

_Leaf was silent. Aside from the crunching of the forest floor beneath their feet, everyone else was, too._

_"How can you be so sure of that?" she challenged in a voice barely above a whisper._

_His response was a bit delayed. "… I've seen it firsthand. People who would climb mountains for each other until one of them stabs the other in the back…"_

"I…" Leaf paused, not sure what to say. "…I'm sorry I asked. It's obviously not any of my business to ask a question with an answer as personal as that," she finally said, although it sounded a bit lame.

Gary waved his hand dismally. "It's fine. It was my choice whether to tell you or not, anyways," he said. For a brief second he fell quiet before hesitantly asking, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but…what was your past like?"

Leaf blinked at him tiredly before turning and gazing out across the mountains and forests below them, resting her chin on her palm. The sun was close to setting now, but in the last rays of its light she could see the small buildings of the town of Silverhaven far off in the distance, huddled next to a cliff with a waterfall pouring off of it.

Releasing a sigh, she whispered, "I don't know."

* * *

Oh brain, why does inspiration always strike in the shower?

But seriously, this chapter would freaking _not_ cooperate with me. I basically had writer's block for the past two weeks until last night when I finally figured out what to write. Sorry for not updating for like, 2 1/2 weeks, guys, but now you know why. DX I think this is the longest period SF has gone without being updated.

also yay Gary and Leaf made up happy times :3 but Gary talks too much for a boy that's supposed to be suffering from extreme headaches. XD Oh well.

(Also, does anybody else find it funny that it takes like, five hours to write a chapter but only five minutes to read it? :P I sure do, after suffering for that long to write this! XD)

…Btw, and don't kill me, but I really wanted to use this sentence in this chapter XD (but I couldn't find anywhere to fit it in DX): "Arceus, I feel like I just took an arrow to the knee- ahh, I mean, a boot to the head!"

-AquaStarlight ;)


	17. Chapter 17

No more than half an hour later, Leaf, along with May, was watching Gary with a slightly forlorn expression as he was wheeled into the base's medical ward by White and a few nurses. It was a moment after Gary's moveable bed had crossed the ward's threshold when Leaf suddenly felt a distinct yet gentle pressure—May's hand—slide down her wrist to comfortingly cup the former's hand.

He'll be alright, the gesture said. Don't worry about that idiot, May's eyes said.

He doesn't make it easy, Leaf's tired and wry smile said.

_None of them do_, growled Lithium and Leaf gave the dragon by her side a slightly amused sidelong glance.

"The base is really amazing, isn't it?" said May, turning away from the entrance to the medical ward and looking out behind them.

Grateful for the change in topic, Leaf followed her lead and gazed around her as well. "Yeah...who knew that there was actually an entire community of rebels here?"

"Who knew that there was even a cave behind that waterfall? But maybe that's the point," mused May.

Leaf nodded mutely in agreement. To say the least, she, May, and Gary had been _surprised_ when they learned that White had expected them to (metaphorically) charge headfirst into a healthy, roaring waterfall. And if they were surprised by White's request, then it wasn't much of an understatement to say that they were completely floored by the actual base itself.

Beyond the waterfall was a moderately-sized, somewhat lengthy but straight tunnel. At the end of it, however, was a winding staircase leading down into a large crater of sorts that served as the grounds for the entire establishment. The circular depression couldn't have had less than a one-mile diameter and was a few dozen feet deep. Small huts, simple buildings, people and about a dozen dragons cluttered wherever shrubbery and faint patches of grass grew.

The interesting thing was that the sky overhead was blue and beautiful and _perfectly visible_, implying things about the base's aerial security, which May had taken upon herself to immediately ask White about. The girl's answer had been that a magical barrier was carefully set up so that from above, there was actually seemingly no crater at all, and all there was was a slight bulge of a small, rocky, average-looking mountain.

Such a defense mechanism was a painful reminder of Savoir Faire, and Leaf had immediately torn her eyes away from the open sky and forced her gaze onto the ground until the slight wetness in her eyes dried away. Then Gary had let out some sort of groan and his transport to the medical ward was hastily resumed (and Leaf had been glad for that, because it served as a good distraction).

"Do you want to go explore?" asked May softly, watching Leaf carefully.

"Um...yeah," muttered Leaf distractedly, rubbing her eyes. Crap. "Yeah."

"Alright...maybe we should go see if there's a blacksmith or weapons supplier here. After all, Gary _did _get everything he had stole—"

"_Leaf_?"

Both brunettes quickly whirled at the call of Leaf's name by an unfamiliar voice towards the source. May quickly shut up as she stared at the newcomer, and Leaf's eyes widened as she took in the figure standing in front of her with an equally shocked expression on his face.

"_You_!" blurted May. "_You_...um...look familiar..."

"You were the one in Silverhaven with the package a few weeks ago," realized Leaf, the memory coming easily to her considering the amount of thinking and shock this guy had given her with his mysterious lines.

"That was me," verified the dark-haired man, his crimson eyes lighting up with bemusement. "I'm flattered you remember."

_Yeah, well...you're kind of hard to forget_, Leaf bit back mentally, thinking of his agonizingly cryptic words the last time they had met.

"You're a member of this base? As in...you're part of the resistance?" said May.

Leaf cast May an _are-you-serious _look. As if the academy would have trusted him with some super secret package if he was one of Vesuvius's guys.

He chuckled. "Don't give her that look, Leaf; double-checking isn't a bad thing, especially not in these times. Then again, in an instance like this, I _could _always lie."

"Do you?" returned Leaf, her guard against this guy relaxing with each passing second. Somehow, his presence was relaxing...comforting, even.

"Perhaps." He smiled slightly and, at that moment, stole a quick glance at the large analog clock on the wall of the medical ward. "Oh...I'm late," he muttered. Raising his voice and beginning to move, he said, "Sorry you two, but I got to go, but make yourselves at home here. Dinner's in a few hours, so feel free to go over to the Dining Hall—" —he pointed east to one of the larger buildings in the base—"—when it's time."

"Ah—thanks! I guess..." said May, looking slightly sheepish.

"Yeah, no problem," he said easily as he rushed past them but, after a few steps, turned to look at Leaf with a peculiar yet unreadable expression on his face. "Leaf...would you mind meeting me behind the Hall right before dinner? I'd...like to talk with you."

Leaf blinked, not entirely sure where this was going. "Uh, yeah, sure, but—"

"Thanks," he interrupted with a small grin and turned around to head off again.

"—Wait, what's your name?!"

Without missing a beat, the dark-haired boy answered over his shoulder, "Red!"

* * *

A few hours and an entire walking tour of the base later, Leaf was back at the medical ward's entrance and shifting nervously from one foot to another every few seconds. May had taken the liberty of taking their three dragons to the stables for the time being, the place where the rebels' dragons often ate and slept, so that left Leaf very much alone and furiously debating whether or not to go inside and visit Gary like she had intended.

On one hand, maybe he was in surgery or sleeping or still getting his wounds taken care of (after all, it had only been about two hours since they arrived at the base) and, well, damn it if the two of them spilling what they did about their past and trust and confessions didn't awkward things up at least _slightly._

On the other hand, maybe he was completely awake and actually awaiting company and the spilling and confessions had only awkwarded things up for Leaf.

(That's it, she was definitely starting to go insane if she was starting to use regularly use adjectives as verbs.)

(Funny how Gary always did that to her, one way or another—make her go insane, that is. Not anything else—)

"Leaf?" asked a voice, effectively jarring Leaf from her starting-to-get-insane thoughts. One quick turn of her head and Leaf identified the voice as White.

"Hi, White," she replied amiably, beaming her a small smile.

White's lips curved upwards in response. She gestured to the medical ward. "So are you going to go in and visit your friend or are you just going to stand out here until he makes a recovery—which, by the way, will take a while," she added with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah, I was...I was going to go, I just wasn't sure how I was going to find, uh, him," lied Leaf.

"I'm sure our receptionist would've been totally fine with helping you," said White, her eyes lighting up in both bemusement and a tinge of suspicion. "Of course, since I'm here now, I can just escort you to his room."

"That...would be great," laughed Leaf, a tad sheepishly. "Great, yeah."

"Alright, follow me," said White, pulling open and holding the door for Leaf as the latter gave a nod of thanks and entered the building. When White followed after her, she let the door shut and quickly caught up to Leaf. "So," she said conversationally as they began walking, her in front so as to lead the way, "What do you think of the base so far?"

"It's great," replied Leaf honestly. "I'm amazed that at the amount of people and dragons here...and that you guys haven't been found out, despite being so close to a large town."

"Yeah, that's partly due to the work of our council members," said White with a small smile. "It's also because the rebels here are completely trustworthy and sworn to secrecy."

"Council members?" echoed Leaf questioningly. "And they...?"

"Basically, they run the base," explained White just as they turned a corner. "They make most of the decisions and they keep in contact with other rebel organizations—for example, Savoir Faire. They keep tabs on everything—Vesuvius, our base, the surrounding areas; it was thanks to an alert from them that I found you guys out there. All of them are incredible fighters as well."

"That sounds like a lot of work," mused Leaf. "...Ew."

"It is," chuckled White. "My brother's actually the head of the council, and anytime he isn't running around doing his council-y stuff, he's either training or sleeping. I'm sure you'll run into him at some point. Not going to lie, it can get pretty crazy around here...like when Savoir Faire got attacked. We're a hundred miles away from there, but it still put us on high alert, too, about upping our defenses and everything." Turning her head to look at Leaf and softening her voice, White continued, "I'm sorry about your academy...even we heard about all of the casualties."

"It's nothing," replied Leaf curtly, suddenly fighting back a sob and lump in her throat. "It's..." but she didn't bring herself to finish her sentence because, to be quite honest, Leaf didn't know _what _it was.

The two then fell into silence with Leaf trying to control herself, and some thirty seconds later, White stopped.

"Well, here's his room," said White quietly, and Leaf glanced at the rectangular plate beside the doorframe to read the room number, quickly stowing away the information for future reference. White rapped on the door two times and then they waited.

"Come in," rasped a voice that was unmistakably Gary's a few seconds later.

Taking ahold of and twisting the doorknob, White opened the door for Leaf and gestured for the latter to go in. Taking a tentative step into the room, Leaf looked back questioningly at White as if to say "are-you-staying?", and the girl responded with a slight shake of her head. White plastered a tight smile on her face and then, just like that, closed the door, effectively leaving Leaf alone with Gary.

Taking in a small breath, Leaf finally turned to look at Gary and then immediately winced. He was laying down in the transport bed she had seen him in earlier, though he looked different from earlier in that a third of his body was now bandaged and wrapped. Another third was colored various shades of violet, black, and light green. He was linked up to an IV.

"You look terrible," Leaf deadpanned as she crossed the room to him, and the closer she got, the more various scratches and bruises became evident to her.

"Ouch, now I'm wounded forever," said Gary sarcastically.

"Pun intended?" whispered Leaf as she sat down in one of the chairs beside his bed, a small smile curving her mouth despite herself.

He paused. "Nah."

Leaf chuckled softly and the sound brought some sort of half-smile to Gary's face as well. "So how are you feeling?" she asked, looking at him.

"Like hell, but at least those thugs realized that my face was too pretty to be destroyed," snorted Gary.

Rolling her eyes, Leaf once again asked the question she was dying to know the answer to: "What exactly happened after you...left?"

"Eh, that," muttered Gary with a sigh. It was obvious he was dreading retelling this story, but Leaf was genuinely curious. And a slight bit worried...but mostly curious, of course. "Yeah, well...Azreth and I still decided to head for Silverhaven, so that was that."

_So we would've met up again eventually anyways,_ realized Leaf, and this thought comforted her somehow.

"One day, a couple days after we left, Azreth and I were getting food...and then I got captured by some of Vesuvius's guys." Here, Leaf's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. "They took me to their lair or something, and I remember getting knocked out a lot," he said with a dry laugh. "Then some girl started getting into my head and torturing me and stuff." Gary noticeably flinched from the memory.

"What did they want?" whispered Leaf, more than a bit mortified and, because of that, completely oblivious of the way she was getting closer to Gary.

"They—" began Gary, but abruptly cut himself off. "...just wanted to know who I was and what I was doing in the area," he lied.

Buying it, Leaf pressed, "So how did you escape?"

A smirk crossed Gary's face. "Azreth. Remember at the winter formal when they chose him to choose us as King and Queen?"

"Yeah...?"

"Same entrance," he said, grinning as Leaf broke out into a soft bout of giggles and both of them recalled those warmer, happier memories. "Anyways, we got away and flew for a while. A bit after we came down to rest, though, these bandits found us. There was a fight, and it was three-on-one, plus I was kind of half-dead, so I couldn't hold them off. Azreth got hit with some dart, I think, and basically we were both just out. They took our stuff and then..." He shrugged. "You found us."

"Gary..." whispered Leaf, astonished and feeling excruciatingly guilty as she considered her experiences compared to his.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity. I'm just glad it's over."

"But...you could've _died_," murmured Leaf, suddenly unable to look at Gary and she turned her head the other way as her fists clenched. "And I...before you left, I said...I told...I told you..." She paused, and then she whipped her head back to look at him again in a flash of chestnut hair. Her shoulders and arms began trembling as the first angry tear leaked out of her eye, the rest soon following suit.

In response to such an unfamiliar demonstration of emotion, Gary stared at his partner like a deer in headlights, his mouth slack.

"I told you to _die_! And, Arceus damn it, you almost seriously _did_ and...and if you did, I never would've forgiven myself and I would've hated me and you for eternity and you're just such an _idiot _and...and I..." rambled Leaf, making hand gestures as tears trailed down her face. Her voice was quickly becoming cut off by hiccups and premature sobs and she looked down at the ground.

Gary's eyes softened. With another gentle half-smile on his face, he reached out and placed a hand on the side of Leaf's head, and that was enough to surprise her enough for her to look up again, her mouth ajar.

"It's fine," he murmured.

"But it's _not_!" shouted Leaf, her voice muffling on the last syllable because she had thrown herself onto Gary and began crying into him. And as painful as it was for Gary having this new pressure on his bruised chest, he tentatively (and awkwardly) began rubbing small circles on the girl's back. "You could've...you could've died. And I...even if you're as annoying as you are...if that was...the last thing I ever said to you...I just...I'm sorry..."

"I know," said Gary, and right at that moment, he had a feeling that everything was going to be alright.

* * *

When May looked in the window, she saw Leaf and Gary both comfortably asleep, the former's head and arms on the bit of mattress beside Gary with the rest of her in a chair. She had smiled knowingly and decided to put off her visit to Gary for a later time and, therefore, backtracked out of the medical ward and ended up wandering the base again until dinner.

At some point, she had ended up needing a stop to the little girl's room, and though that adventure in itself hadn't been particularly interesting, she _did _see White when she was washing her hands.

So that was the start of how May was now traversing the base grounds with White on the latter's rounds. It was a good way for May to see corners of the base she hadn't seen earlier with Leaf, and as they walked, they talked animatedly about mutual topics.

They were passing through the general training grounds when May wondered about other newcomers to the base.

"We don't always get a lot of new faces around here," mused White. "I mean, you get why—we're supposed to be a secret, invisible establishment. Actually, in the past month, aside from you guys, we've only picked up one other guy."

"Really? What's he like?"

"Well...he hasn't said much. He kind of looks our age, I guess, but maybe a bit older. He has a dragon, and from what I've seen, both of them are pretty good fighters...and the best part? His hair's green," said White with a slight chortle.

May almost tripped. _Do _not _get your hopes, do _not _get your hopes up__..._

"I...I have a friend who was captured during the attack on Savoir Faire," whispered May, her voice just audible enough for White to hear. "He...has green hair...too..."

White looked at May, a shocked expression on her face. After all, how many people were there in the area with green hair? "Do you think it's him? I mean, I don't know where he is right now, but I'm sure you'll see him around here sometime, but..."

"Oh my Arceus," breathed May, her hopes rising by the second. "White...do you know his name?"

White nodded. "He told somebody earlier today that his name is Harmonius," she said excitedly.

And just like that, May's hopes were cruelly dashed.

* * *

A ray of light hit Leaf's face and, in result, she stirred. Slowly, her eyelids raised and the first thing she saw was the analog clock on the other side of the room.

She immediately jolted upwards, and her eyes widened. It was a bit past seven, which meant that it was a bit past the start of dinner, which meant that she was late for her meeting with Red.

Apparently, her jolting had also disturbed the boy beside her because as she hastily stood up, she heard him mutter hoarsely, "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"Red asked me to meet him at the start of dinner and I'm late," said Leaf hurriedly. Realizing from the confused look on Gary's face that he didn't know who Red was, Leaf hastily explained, "He's the guy who gave us the package last time."

"Oh...I see," muttered Gary. There was a pause, and then, just when Leaf began to turn and rush away because she thought the conversation was pretty much over, she felt a pressure on her wrist.

Taken aback, Leaf looked down at the hand encircling her wrist and then up at the person to whom that hand belonged to. "Gary?"

"Never mind," muttered Gary, suddenly looking slightly awkward. He looked away from Leaf and released her wrist. "Go."

After another pause and a slight nod, Leaf was on her way out of the room and passing through the doorframe. It wasn't long before she was in the hallway retracing her and White's steps.

(Funny how even after Leaf was back outside the medical ward and jumping down the front steps, her right wrist was still burning slightly.)

* * *

True to his word, when Leaf arrived in the little backyard garden behind the marble Dining Hall, Red was already casually leaning against a tree and waiting for her.

"Hi," she said breathlessly as she ran towards him, and right as that word slipped out of her mouth, his crimson eyes flashed and looked up at her.

(Honestly, was that kind of eye color even normal?)

"I'm really sorry I'm late, I was visiting my friend in the ward and I kind of fell asleep and when I woke up—" she rambled, but was abruptly silenced by a nonchalant wave of Red's hand.

"Don't worry about it," he said amicably, the smallest smile pulling at his lips.

"Thanks," said Leaf, beaming at him. "So, ah...you said you wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah," said Red and pushed himself off the tree so that he was now standing up straight.

It was then that Leaf realized the boy was actually rather tall, and he towered a good six inches over her. It was clear through his black T-shirt that his body was quite defined and, well, even though he couldn't be less than twenty-one, Leaf still found herself admiring the well-proportioned structure of his face.

"To be honest...I'm not sure how to begin to tell you this," he said with a small sheepish laugh as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with a hand. "And, I mean, don't freak out or anything, but...just prepare yourself."

Leaf watched Red bemusedly. It was funny how there was just something about him that made her feel _comfortable _with him, as if she had spent a while with him as opposed to just three meetings. She wasn't even sure what he could say that would make her "freak out" or anything, unless it was about Savoir Faire or something. After all, this was literally the third time they had met; what could he possibly know about her?

"Just spit it out, Red," said Leaf with a small laugh.

"Alright." He took a deep breath and then stared straight into Leaf's eyes. "Leaf, I'm...your father."

* * *

not sure if anybody is in character at all this chapter BUT FEELS DO THINGS TO PEOPLE AND THAT'S MY JUSTIFICATION

...lol orz

anyways xD plot twist anyone? ;)

Thanks for reading and reviews are super super loved, as always! :) you guys are wonderful x)

-Apheleia


	18. Chapter 18

Red took a deep breath. "Leaf, I'm...your father."

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Slowly, Leaf's smile faded and was replaced with a completely horrified and bewildered expression. For the longest amount of time, she just stared at him.

"I… you're my… what?" Leaf whispered, her mind in a frenzy as it tried to comprehend his words. "But… I… _what?"_ She couldn't believe that this man – this_ boy_ – that could only be a few years older than her was her _father_. "How are you _even_ my father?" she exclaimed, completely bewildered.

Red recoiled like a hot iron had been pressed against his skin; his crimson eyes widening. _"Father?"_ he repeated in an equally stupefied tone. "I'm not-! I didn't-!" He cut himself off, slapping his palm against his forehead. "I meant brother," he groaned. "Sorry, I've just been so exhausted lately that I can't think straight..."

Leaf swallowed the disbelief in her throat. "Wait, let me get this straight." She pointed at the raven-haired man. "You're my _brother_? _Not_ my father?"

Red nodded his head in confirmation. "I'm your brother," he confirmed, lazily running a hand through his jet black hair. "Five years older than you." He grinned.

Leaf calmed down slightly, but she was still completely befuddled by his revelation. "How… How is this even possible?" she questioned in a mere whisper. "How did I _never_ know I had a brother all these years?"

The solemn smile Red gave her was heartbreaking. He turned away, fiddling with something on his finger. "You knew at one time," he murmured to himself, but spoke up so Leaf could hear his next words. "Let's talk somewhere more private, shall we?" he suggested. "Surely there are plenty of questions you want answered that others shouldn't overhear."

Leaf merely shrugged, trying to settle the emotions stirring within her. She had a brother? Since when? Why hadn't she known that? Who else knew that Red – this young man that she had only met a few times before, as far as she knew – was her _brother?_

Red moved away from the Dining Hall and Leaf followed him, silently examining him as they walked. To be honest, she could see no similarities between them that would suggest they were siblings; he had black hair and (unnatural) red eyes, whereas she had brown hair and green eyes.

After a minute or so Red stopped in front of a fairly large tent; holding the flap of the tent up for Leaf as she hesitantly stepped inside. The inside was nothing spectacular; just a bed, a table accompanied by a few chairs, and miscellaneous things like weapons and papers were scattered around.

It was actually quite cozy and welcoming, Leaf thought as she looked around.

Red entered after her and sat down in one of the wooden chairs by the table, motioning for Leaf to join him. The brunette hesitantly did so, taking the seat across from him. Even though he had said he was her brother, and despite how natural it was to be around Red, Leaf couldn't help but be cautious near him. He was basically a stranger.

"So, Red… you're my brother?" Leaf awkwardly asked.

Red nodded. "My real name is actually Ravlen, but for… _certain_ reasons I take the alias Red," he explained, forcing a laugh. "My full name is Ravlen Greaux Adair, and yours is Leanne-"

"Wait, are you saying my real name isn't Leaf Green?" she interrupted him, a look of disbelief on her face. When he nodded, she frowned, a conflicted look in her green eyes. "But then why…?"

"Your real name is Leanne Etienne Adair," he calmly explained, ignoring her confusion. His oddly colored red eyes met hers, holding her gaze. "Before Vesuvius took over, we lived in the capital with our parents. They were, well…" A smile played on his lips. "…the rulers of the country, I guess you could say. The king and the queen."

Leaf's eyes widened. "Then…" she breathed.

Red smiled. "We were royalty; Prince Ravlen and Princess Leanne."

* * *

"No, his name isn't… it isn't Harmonius," May whispered, fighting back the lump that was forming in her throat.

"Oh…" White's crystal-clear blue eyes softened. "I'm sorry; maybe I shouldn't have mentioned him… I'm sure you'll find your friend sometime, though," she offered, trying to console the girl.

"Yeah, maybe…" May held back a sniffle, turning away from White in case her eyes were starting to get watery. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I mean, he was kidnapped by the people who attacked the academy, so the likeliness of it being him wasn't that high…"

White noticed the tears gathering in May's eyes. "Oh, girl, you look like you're about to start bawling. Come sit down over here and talk with me, okay?" she said in a soft voice, gently guiding May over to where a bench was situated near one of the buildings.

After she sat May down, White sat down next to the brunette and wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Now tell me about your friend," she murmured. "And don't be afraid to cry. Just let it all out."

May tried to blink away the tears that were gathering in her eyes, but just thinking about Drew made it hard to stay focused. "H-his name was Drew," she stuttered, struggling to hold back the sobs that were growing in her chest. "He was my partner. He was really irritating, so I'd always tease him about his green hair to tick him off but then he'd call me June or some other month to irritate me and then we'd just keep throwing insults at each other until I got so angry that I just stormed off."

"So did you not like your partner?" White asked.

"No." May shook her head. "In fact, I had fun arguing with him. I never seemed to be able to come up with more insults than he did, but it was a challenge and nobody else ever challenged me like that. He was… interesting."

"Do you miss him?" White asked softly. "How… How exactly was he kidnapped?"

May's throat constricted and her vision became blurry with tears. "I… I do miss him," she gasped out. "I do. I have no idea where he is right now, or even if he's alive, but he's my partner, so I have to worry about him…" She hiccupped, and a few tears dripped down her cheeks. "During the attack on the academy I was reckless and plunged straight into the battle. Drew followed me, and when I injured my ankle he step forward and protected me from the people attacking the academy. They… I watched as they overpowered him and knocked him out and then took him away." She shook her head, blinking and watching as her tears fell to the ground. "I don't know why they took him," she whispered, her body shaking as she struggled not to start sobbing. "But it was my fault they did. It's all my fault."

"No it wasn't," White tried to sooth her.

"It was!" May angrily exclaimed. "Gary and Leaf tried to tell me it wasn't, too… but it _is_ my fault. If I had just kept my head and not dove into that battle…!" She clenched her fist, her face streaked with tears.

"May." White rested her hand on the girl's shoulder, and when May hesitantly looked up at her she held the other girl's gaze. "Whether it was your fault or not, it's not like you can go back and change what happened now." White noticed May's lip visibly quiver, but continued on anyways. "_However_, I have a feeling that if I tell my brother about what happened to your friend, he might know of a way to find him. Sound good?" White smiled at the girl.

May visibly brightened. "Really?" she asked, wiping the tears off of her cheeks. "You think your brother might be able to find Drew?"

"Well, maybe not _find_ Drew-" May's expression sobered. "-but he might know something that can help you find him." May's face became gleeful once again.

"Oh Arceus, White, thanks a ton!" May told her, engulfing her in a hug. White laughed and after May pulled away she stood up.

"I'll go and look for my brother right now, okay?" White said. "I know he's got to be somewhere in the base right now."

"Okay!" May grinned at her. "But seriously, White, I don't know how I can repay you for this."

White tried not to smile. "You don't need to repay me, May. Friends help friends out, and we are friends now, right?"

May smiled. "Yeah, we are."

* * *

"Princess?" Leaf breathed in awe, but as soon as her excitement came, it vanished. "Me, a princess? No, that's…" She let out a small, disbelieving laugh. "There's no way that's possible. I mean, how do I even _know_ you're telling the truth? I don't remember having any family, so for you to just randomly reveal that you're my brother-!"

"Leanne, there's a long story behind all this," Red cut her off with an exasperated sigh. "Before you start freaking out, at least let me explain everything."

Leaf paused; mouth still poised to unleash a torrent of questions on him, and took a moment to warily eye Red before she told him to start talking. "It's not like anything else can surprise me, after that accidental _father_ revelation," she added under her breath.

Red spoke after a moment of thought. "I guess I could start by explaining why you have no memories of me or our parents," he murmured.

"Yeah, why _don't _I remember you?" Leaf questioned, resting her arm on the wooden table and setting her chin on her palm. "It's pretty hard to believe I didn't know I had a brother all these years. Come to think of it, I can't really remember anything from before I was… about five or six, I think? What happened?"

Red closed his eyes, his brows slightly furrowing. "Ah… you were right around that age when Vesuvius took over, if I remember correctly. I was eleven at the time." He opened his eyes and looked at Leaf. "When mother and father were still on the throne, Vesuvius was a member of their council, but some things happened and, well… he killed them." Red didn't hide the grief in his voice as he spoke, and looked away as Leaf's eyes widened.

"That… t-that bastard not only destroyed my academy," Leaf whispered, her voice shaking, "but killed my parents, too?" She looked up at Red with wide, despairing eyes. "Why?"

"Vesuvius wanted power." He spat out the man's name like it was poison. "He started off as a good guy, but something changed. I don't know what it was, but whatever it was led him to killing our parents." Red shook his head, playing with something on his finger as he continued. "After that, you and I – as the only heirs of the throne left – were smuggled out of the capital and into secrecy before Vesuvius could do anything to us. Once we disappeared, Vesuvius took over the throne and has been ruling ever since then."

"I can see how that would be important for me to know, but what does that have to do with why I can't remember you?" Leaf asked, confused.

"I'm getting to that, geez," Red said, waving a nonchalant hand at her. "See, after we escaped the servants and knights that accompanied us decided that it would be best if we didn't remember who we were in case Vesuvius came after us for whatever reason, so they had a psychic dragon erase your memories. I managed to convince them to let me keep my memories, but only after they had erased yours."

"So that's how it happened, huh?" Leaf murmured, slightly disturbed by the fact that Lithium, as a psychic dragon, could probably erase memories too, if she tried.

She stared at Red's mysterious red eyes. She had once been told a story about how the members of specific bloodline had strangely colored eyes, and now she was starting to wonder if the story was true, and it was _her_ bloodline with the oddly colored eyes. (Of course, that wasn't really relevant to anything, but she could still wonder, couldn't she?)

"Anyways, after that they separated us; giving you the fake name Leaf Green and sending you off to be raised at some sort of orphanage or something. I kind of lost track of you for a while after that; Ceprien and I went off and joined the newly formed Resistance. Of course, I found out you joined the Savoir Faire Academy a few years later and requested to be stationed at this base so I could keep an eye on you," Red explained with a shrug.

"Ceprien…?"

"My dragon. That reminds me, you don't remember Lazare, do you?" Red asked.

"Lazare?" Leaf echoed. "No, I don't remember anybody named Lazare. Who's that?"

Red paused, remembering White's words about a silver dragon. "…Your dragon."

* * *

The only sound in Gary's room in the medical ward was the repetitive beating of the machine monitoring his heart, and it was driving him _insane_.

Ever since Leaf had accidently woke him up earlier and rushed out he had been unable to fall asleep again. It was partly because of the irritating machine next to him, but also because Gary couldn't stop wondering who this "Red" guy that Leaf had mentioned was.

Sure, he knew that Red was the guy who had given them the package thanks to Leaf's explanation, but he still didn't really _know_ anything about the guy. And hell if it didn't bother him that his partner had left to go talk to a stranger – _especially _since he had almost lost her before. (Really, it was more like _she_ nearly lost him, considering how dire his wounds were.)

Regardless, Gary knew he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon, so he hesitantly reached out to Azreth. It still hurt a bit thanks to his head wound, but not enough to be anything more severe than an annoyance.

_Reth?_

_Gary?_ Azreth was surprised that his rider was contacting him after complaining to him about how much it hurt to. _Dude, how's your head?_

_It's fine,_ Gary sighed. _I'm just a bit lo… uncomfortable being alone in this room right now. I can't really say I trust these Resistance folk, considering I haven't seen anything but this room since we got here._

_Ah, it's fine. They're actually really cool dudes once you start talking to them. _Gary could tell Azreth was grinning by the tone of his voice._ Alkali, your girl's dragon and I are down in the dragon stables they have, and man, let me tell you-."_

My_ girl?_ If it was possible to splutter telepathically, then Gary just did. _Who, _Leaf_? Reth, she's my _partner_ – nothing more, nothing less._

Azreth shrugged, but Gary sensed it. _That's exactly what I'm saying. She's your partner, so she _is _your girl._

Gary rolled his eyes, but made no move to continue arguing with the dragon.

_But speaking of Leaf, that reminds me… _Azreth began, his tone becoming accusing and just a tad bit confused. _Why did you lie to her?_

_What? When?_

_When you were telling her about that crazy redhead. And don't try to dance around the topic, either, _he growled, sensing Gary's unwillingness to discuss the subject.

_You were eavesdropping on our conversation? _Gary accused rather than replied, not really angry at his dragon but just trying to lead Azreth's mind away from the subject.

_Well, I'd call it teledropping, considering that I di-_ might _have been reading your and Leaf's minds through telepathy while you were talking, _Azreth said in an oh-so-innocent voice. _But seriously, why did you lie about what that girl said? It might have been important for Leaf to know in case that girl miraculously appears again – even though I'm _pretty _sure I killed her._

_I just didn't think she needed to know that some crazy girl threatened to hunt her down, okay?_ Gary growled. _'Sides, that girl is probably dead, just like you said. And on top of that, if I told Leaf now, she'd probably break my arm or something for lying to her._

Azreth lightly chuckled, momentarily barring Gary from his mind as he recalled his conversation with Leaf what felt like a lifetime ago, back in the forest. _I really doubt she would get pissed off at you, knowing about your issues, Gary…_

_Oh, are you _sure_ that was the only reason you didn't tell her?_ the dragon teased. _Because it seems like every time I bring her up you automatically have this protective vibe that just _rolls_ off you, y'know? See, I can even feel it right now!_

_Shut up, Reth!_ Gary snapped, furiously denying how warm his face had become from his dragon's teasing. _Or I might just have to start pulling out the Lithium comments on you._

_Lithium?_ Azreth repeated. _Oh please, she _worships_ me, Gare._

_Oh really?_ Gary smirked, a cocky tone creeping into his (telepathic) voice. _Prove it, then._

_Gladly._ And with that, the great black dragon opened his eyes – having been feigning sleep before – and scanned the stable he was laying in for the familiar, elegant silver dragon. He easily spotted her a short distance away, curled up next to Alkali as they talked, and hauled himself to his feet before approaching them.

_Yo, Lith my babe,_ he greeted in a smooth voice once he was close enough. Lithium swiveled around to glare at him, nearly snarling at his words.

_What do you want, obnoxious beast?_ she asked with a growl. _I'm still tired after carrying both Leaf _and _your audacious rider all the way here; the _last_ thing I need is you bothering me._

_Oh now don't be that way,_ he chided, walking around the two. _I just wanted to know if you wanted to go take a fly with me over the base._ He continued walking, his tail swishing back and forth across the floor behind him.

Lithium watched it warily after Azreth nearly hit her with it, and then fixed another pointed glare at him. _No, and Azreth- hey, watch out!_

Her warning came a bit too late, because Azreth felt his tail smack against something a second later, and let out a sound of surprise as something bit down on his tail a moment after that.

_Ow, what the hell-?_ Azreth turned and looked over his shoulder, scowling at the small gray dragon that was glaring back at him. Its piercing yellow eyes were narrowed at the large black dragon; Azreth's tail clamped firmly between its jaws.

_Hey, let go!_ Azreth growled, trying to shake the little gray dragon off of his tail. A threatening growl rumbled in its throat, and it tightened its grip on Azreth's tail, causing him to wince. _I didn't even do anything to you!_ he exclaimed, shaking his tail more vigorously.

_Well you _did _smack the little guy with your tail, _Alkali commented innocently, laughter clearly visible in her big silver eyes. Next to her, Lithium gave Azreth a smug look.

_Oh whatever,_ Azreth grumbled, giving up and letting the dragon dangle from his tail. He threw one more menacing look at the gray dragon, which only stared back at him with its piercing yellow eyes, and muttered under his breath, _It'll let go soon, anyways._

The little dragon only narrowed its eyes further, digging its fangs deeper into Azreth's tail and causing him to groan in annoyance.

* * *

"Lazare is a… dragon? _My_ dragon?" Leaf gaped at Red in astonishment. "But I already have a dragon! Lithium! We're bonded and everything!"

"I know, I know." Red waved for her to calm down. "Chill, sis. I'll explain. See, Lazare and Ceprien were given to you and I, respectively, when we were little, and although Ceprien and I bonded you and Lazare never did. You were close and all, but for some reason you two never did bond. After Vesuvius took over, though, I had to take Lazare with me and take care of him, since it would be suspicious if a girl your age – at the time – had a dragon. Not very many people bonded with dragons before the Resistance started, so it might have given away your true identity if Lazare had stayed with you."

Leaf gulped uneasily, wondering what would happen to this second dragon since she already had Lithium. "Is Lazare here right now, at this base?" she asked. "I… even if I don't remember him, I'd still like to see him at least once."

Red shrugged. "Well, since I'm not bonded with Lazare, it's hard to keep track of where he is most of the time. He'll show up sooner or later, though. He tends to hang around me a lot. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you though, even if you don't remember him," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, maybe," Leaf replied with a weak smile. "But, errr… Red- no, Ravlen…?"

"Call me Red," he said. "Nobody knows who I really am, so if somebody were to call me by my real name then somebody could easily figure out my true identity. That goes for you, too," he added in a stern tone. "_Nobody_ can know who you really are, okay Leanne? I doubt Vesuvius really gives a damn if we're alive or dead – he probably thinks we're dead – but it's always best to stay on the safe side. It wouldn't be good if we were revealed to be the lost prince and princess."

"Ah, okay… Red," Leaf said after a slight pause. "So nobody at this base knows you're Ravlen? How can you be sure that nobody can figure out who you are just by looking at your appearance?"

Red grinned. "The servants who smuggled us out of the capital thought of that already a long time ago. They helped me come up with the alias 'Red' and dyed my hair to disguise me," he explained, leaning over to show Leaf the brown roots of his seemingly natural black hair. "I have to keep dying it every week or so so nobody notices, which is a pain, but on the bright side nobody suspects a thing of me."

"Dang, that's smart," Leaf commended, slightly elated to see that his real hair color looked to be the same as hers. _At least that's one thing we have in common, _she thought.

"Mhm. Without them I'd probably have been discovered and carted away to some dungeon years ago," Red said, nodding. "But thankfully, I haven't been," he added with a smile. "I like to think that I'm a big part in the Resistance, too, if that doesn't sound too immodest."

"It doesn't," Leaf assured him, still getting used to knowing that she had a big brother. It wasn't wrong to be in awe of him, was it? "So what do you do in the Resistance?"

"It varies," he replied with a shrug. "I don't like to sit down and stay still for long, but I'm a member of our council, so I get stuck in meetings a lot. But other than that training with Ceprien is all I really do. That reminds me, I was supposed to meet with a few people earlier…" Red trailed off, standing up and glancing at the door.

"Oh, should I go?" Leaf asked, an unsure look on her face as she stood up as well.

Red gave her an apologetic smile. "Yeah. Looks like we'll have to talk again later, huh?" he hummed, moving towards the door and holding back the flap for Leaf just as he had done when they entered the tent.

Leaf stepped outside. "Yeah, definitely," she happily agreed. "I really need to get to know you better, what with you being my brother and all," she said as he joined her outside.

"That reminds me," Red muttered, turning to face Leaf. "When we're around other people we have to act like we're not related, okay? _Nobody_ can know we're siblings."

Leaf nodded. "Well, actually," she hesitantly began. "My dragon is a psychic type, so there's no way I can keep her from knowing about everything you just told me."

"Ah… It's fine if your dragon knows, as long as she doesn't tell anybody else," Red replied, his brow slightly furrowing. "Yeah, it'll be fine. Sometimes it helps not to keep a secret pent up inside yourself and not let anybody else know about it, you know?" he laughed.

Leaf smiled. "…Yeah."

"Hey, Red!"

Both Leaf and Red turned at the sound of the latter's name being called, and watched as a familiar figure ran towards them.

"Hey, White," Red greeted once the girl came within hearing distance. Leaf wondered for a second how they knew each other, but then chalked it up as all Resistance members knowing each other.

"Hey," White replied, a bit breathless after jogging over to them. "I was talking with one of the new girls earlier, and she told me about this guy- oh, hey Leaf!" the brunette said, noticing the green-eyed girl. "I almost didn't notice you right there!"

Leaf tried to hold back a smile. "Hey, White."

"You two know each other?" Red asked, though by the tone of his voice it sounded like he already knew their answer.

White looked at Red. "Yeah, I found Leaf and her friends out in the forest and brought them here," she explained. "Anyways," she said, turning to Leaf and smiling. "I see you've met Red. Although introductions are probably unnecessary; Red, this is Leaf, and Leaf, this is my brother, Red."

* * *

Has your mind been blown again?

But oh wow like seriously who hates me for not updating this for like, more than a month? In my defense, though, my computer broke, and it took a couple of weeks to get it fixed. D: But yeah, anyways, about this chapter:

WHO'S ABSOLUTELY SPEECHLESS AND WANTS TO TEAR OUT OUR THROATS FOR THAT FATHER PRANK? *Everyone raises hands* OH WHAT FUN.

Anyways, a lot of you are probably disappointed that Leaf is indeed the princess (though Gary will forever be the true princess in our hearts :P) but hey, this part of the story has been planned out for quite a while, so… sorry. :( Hopefully it won't make your opinion on SF drop.

CLICHES, MAN. THEY KILL. D:

-AquaStarlight

P.S. LithiumxAzreth is totally official (I wish) guys. :P LikeRiderLikeDragonShipping is my new OTP, I swear.

P.P.S. Savoir Faire Red is like a mix of (to quote Apheleia) lololyay manga!Red and srsbsns game!Red, only more mature. Just so you know. ;)


	19. Chapter 19

The small smile that had been tugging at Leaf's lips dropped instantly, and once again in an amount of time that was way too short, her mind shut down as it struggled to process the meaning of the spoken words.

"Wait, but," she sputtered, turning to Red, wide-eyed, "you told me...but she..."

The boy's brow creased and he ran a tired hand through his hair. He chuckled nervously at the confused and distraught looks White and Leaf were respectively giving him.

"I can explain," he said smoothly, trying not to laugh at Leaf who was clearly seconds away from having a breakdown. He turned to White. "Can I?"

"Er..." mumbled White, giving Leaf a hesitant look-over as the latter stared blankly at Red's jacket, her mouth slightly agape. "No offense to either of you, but...why her?"

"Remember that little sister I told you about who I lost a long time ago?" said Red loftily, moving to swing an arm around Leaf's rigid shoulders. Without really waiting for an answer, he lightheartedly continued, "Well...looks like you're relieved of your duty."

White's first reaction was one of confusion. Her second was that of slight apprehension as she gave both Red and Leaf a head-to-toe look-over. The next was dawning realization, and then finally...

"You found her!" she exclaimed happily, hurriedly engulfing the siblings in a powerful hug. Red chuckled and wrapped an arm around the girl's back while Leaf dazedly put a hesitant hand on White's shoulder. "I'm so happy for you, Red!"

"Thank you," said Red, smiling as White retreated from the two of them.

"The whole base ought to know and we should even have a _celebration_!" gushed White."If...you know...circumstances weren't like they are."

"That's alright," laughed Red. "Just this is more than enough," he added, glancing at Leaf with a soft smile.

Leaf was silent as the two went back and forth about the discovery that she was Red's long-lost sister. Wasn't he the one who had explicitly told her that _nobody _(with the exception of Lithium) was allowed to know about the status of their blood relations? Why was he being so hypocritical and easygoing and telling White like it was the easiest thing in the world and like...like he'd already told her things before? And, more pressing, _White was their sister_? White was royalty, too? But then why didn't Red include her in his explanations to Leaf earlier?

"Um," began Leaf, interrupting White and Red's conversation. Both heads swiveled to look at her. "I'm...really confused. Red, you told me to not tell anyone about this, but...White...and you..."

"Oh! Of course. I'm sorry, Leaf, you must be so confused right now," said White sheepishly. "I suppose that the truth is that my story should be just as secret as yours, but one way or another, you deserve an explanation. Red?"

He nodded. "I guess the first thing we should clarify is that White isn't actually related to us."

And just like that, several dozen pounds of weight disappeared off of Leaf's mind.

"Also, her name isn't White, just like my name isn't actually Red. Her real name is Touko." He exchanged looks with White/Touko as if looking for validation, and White/Touko nodded in affirmation.

"I'm a resistance base leader, too. Or, well...was," she said, and Leaf thought the girl's expression fell a fraction when she spoke those words. "...I ran a base like this one with my brother, Touya, only it was farther north and near the ocean. We did the same jobs your brother and the other council members do here."

The words "your brother" rolled around in Leaf's head. Though she was listening attentively to White's story, she still couldn't help how foreign those words sounded to her even though they were supposed to be one of the most familiar things in her life.

"Then...one day, about a year ago, we were found out. Maybe someone ratted us out or someone slipped up. I don't know, and I don't care," she bit harshly, and Leaf was slightly disturbed by the venom in the girl's voice. "What matters is Vesuvius sent a guy after us. He found our base, and he knows Touya and I's real names.

"We were a small base compared to this one. I guess, if anything, we were more of a post office slash dock for rebel messengers, travelers, you know, that sort of thing. We evacuated the older slash younger slash injured quarters of the base, so we were left with about thirty people who could fight. But the guy had reinforcements, so at some point, all we could do was try to retreat everyone...but, of course, we still lost lives.

"Touya and I...obviously, it was obligation for us to stay to fight. The only way we couldn't was if everybody else was already safe. Of course, it never really came down to that, so we just fought. At some point, it became him versus the guy who Vesuvius sent after us in the first place. I was holding off some other soldier, and..."

Here, White began choking up, and Leaf watched in pity as sniffles sounded from White. Red's gaze was aimed downwards, his mouth in a tight line as he listened to a story that, Leaf thought, he had undoubtedly heard before.

"And, um...the other guy was too good, and Touya hadn't slept in a while, so he was overpowered. I wish I could've done something, but my opponent was _trying _to goad me and get me to slip up, so I couldn't get distracted, and I didn't realize what was happening with him until..." She paused before continuing in a slightly hysteric whisper, "Watching Touya get knocked out and taken away only from out of the corner of my eye is the worst thing that's ever happened to me."

"White..." whispered Leaf, hardly noticing the tear trickling out of her eye. "I..." she tried to begin as she looked towards Red for comfort help, but his eyes were closed and his body was stiff and he was massaging his forehead and his jaw was clenched and Leaf knew that that was his way of trying to cope and not cry. She turned back to White, who, on the other hand, _was_ splotchy with red and had tears blatantly leaking out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, stepping forward and throwing her arms around White in a firm, reassuring hug. "I'm sorry..."

"S-so then I, um...I finally beat that guy, and I got away before they could get me," murmured White, tears still spilling, nose still running and hands still clutching onto Leaf. "And I just ran away and I got Titaia and we flew for our lives for hours and hours and eventually, I ended up in Silverhaven. Red was getting things in town, and he recognized me because we'd met before and so he took me in. I told him everything and we decided that the, um, the best thing to do was to hide me, so...new clothes, different hair color, different hairstyle, new name, and, of course...your brother's new long-lost sister. And it's worked." She looked towards Red then, who took that moment to open his eyes and look up from the ground for the first time in a while. They exchanged soft yet sad smiles before she continued. "I'm sorry for any confusion, Leaf, and I hope you understand. It might be a mess if we reveal that Red and I are actually a lie since the entire base believes that now, and...well..."

"Don't worry about it," whispered Leaf into White's hair. "Do whatever you need and...I promise that you're officially forever an honorary member of the Adair family anyways...Touko."

White laughed softly and pulled back from Leaf, who easily released her. "Thank you," she said, brushing a strand of hair out of the girl's face. "You're a good girl, Leaf. Red's lucky to have a sister like you."

"Have you tried finding him? Tracking him down? Getting him back...?"

"Yes, but I haven't succeeded," replied White softly. "All I know is that he's probably with Vesuvius. When I think about the possibilities that evil man has made him go through..."

"I'll help you," said Leaf immediately. Both Red and White looked up immediately at her words to watch her. "I have a friend who was captured by Vesuvius, too...friend_s_, probably. We're trying to find him _and _bring him back. Maybe...Touya is the same place that they are. And even if not, it's worth the effort, isn't it?"

"...Thank you, Leaf," breathed White. Leaf had the suspicion that tears were going to sneak out of the girl's eyes again. "That means the world to me." She paused, a small smile gracing her face. "And the friend you're talking about...it's Drew, isn't it?"

Leaf was stunned. "How did you know?"

"Your friend May told me," chuckled White. "She and I...we're in very similar boats."

"Wait, White," began Leaf, her head cocked. "Do you, by any chance, know which agent they sent after you? Maybe that same guy is looking for you now so we should still be careful, even if you're a new you. Even if they're not, maybe there's something in the files about him...?"

"You think just like your brother," said White with a smile. "That was the exact question he asked, too, but we've already looked in the archives and we've had a year without trouble. Still, I heard one of their soldiers call out to him during the battle. I think it's just a codename or nickname, but I still remember that moment clear as day..."

"And?" pressed Leaf.

"He called him 'N'," said White.

* * *

Days passed. Hours turned into daytime, daytime into night, injured flesh into scabs, night into days, days into weeks, scabs into skin, and secrets into comfortable yet private truths. May and Leaf visited Gary everyday, and before their very eyes, he became as healthy and spirited as he was before the separation (which, according to Leaf, was or wasn't a bad thing). Azreth continued to have trouble with small, incessant dragons while Lithium and Alkali snorted in disdain.

It surprisingly was not as difficult as Leaf initially thought for her to keep hers, Red's, and White's secrets from Gary and May. Of course, Lithium learned of the entire affair, but also to Leaf's surprise, her dragon approached acceptance calmly and with thoughtful questions (though Leaf detected a hint of jealousy when the subject of another dragon that supposedly belonged to Leaf was mentioned).

However, while Lithium discovered more and more about Leaf and two other certain Riders, Leaf found herself more similar to May and Gary in that she _wasn't _learning anything. Since the day Red and White had explained to her about everything, she hadn't seen either much, if at all.

There were days when she would walk, look up from the ground, see Red heading towards her with a stack of papers in his hand and a council member conversing seriously with him at his side, and she would smile and slow down and raise her hand as if to wave. As he passed her, he would notice her right in time, his eyes would brighten, and he would smile briefly at her before turning back to the other council member and continuing on their way without ever pausing or slowing down for her. In addition, there were days when she would only see White at the breakfast, lunch, or dinner table as the older girl grabbed a piece of food but immediately hurried out within the minute. There were also days when she didn't see either of them, and it didn't help that she usually had no idea where either of them were.

So while it wasn't exactly difficult to keep the secret about herself, Red, and White, Leaf was getting incredibly frustrated as far as not being able to ask about the things she could only ask them and talk about the things she could only talk to them about (plus Lithium, of course).

That said, Leaf didn't have to tell Gary and May specifically about her secrets, but she certainly could vent about her frustrations to them, right?

"_Why _are they always so _busy_?!" moaned Leaf into a lavender throw pillow. Gary raised his eyebrow while May rolled her eyes.

"That's disgusting, Green. People have sat and _will _sit on that pillow, and you're getting your drool all over it," remarked Gary.

"I told you not to call me 'Green'," snapped Leaf, her face still buried in the pillow.

They were currently all situated in Gary's room in the hospital ward as they had been for the past however many days, as the boy—admittedly in much better shape than before—was still ordered to rest as much as possible in order to recover quicker. Leaf was sprawled stomach side down on the only couch in the room with her face currently buried in a pillow. Gary was sitting upright in the bed that he had spent his days in ever since his arrival and sharpening one of the daggers that were gifted to him on behalf of the base. May was sitting in a chair beside Gary watching him do the deed.

"I also told you to stop complaining about Crimson and Ivory," retaliated Gary, not looking up from his work.

At the same time that Leaf retorted, "Ivory is nowhere even near white!", May groaned and said, "And I told _you two _to stop arguing like a married couple."

"And I told _you _to stop with the implication jokes," grumbled Leaf, moving to sit upright as May stuck out her tongue at Leaf.

"Can we all just be quiet for the next five minutes as I sharpen the point?" sighed Gary, to which May and Leaf fell into silence at.

After about twenty seconds of the sound of metal scraping against metal and May staring into the distance, Leaf inwardly sighed and reached out to her dragon.

_Lith, I'm booooooored. And I want to ramble._

Almost immediately, Leaf received a mental image of Azreth running around in rough circles in a way that normal dragons didn't usually run in. It wasn't until the picture zoomed in that Leaf saw a small, gray dragon with a death grip on the end of Azreth's tail.

Suddenly, Leaf was resisting the urge to burst out laughing. _What're you guys doing?! _asked Leaf as she physically pressed her knuckle against her mouth to keep from giggling.

_Nobod_y _likes Azreth_, replied Lithium cheerily. _In any case, what were you saying, love?_

_Like rider, like dragon_, quipped Leaf. _Anyways, I haven't talked to Red or White in such a long time, and I've thought up so many questions in the past few days that I'm bursting with them and I'm afraid that I'll spill something to May or Gary at this rate._

_Such as?_

_That dragon, Lazare_. Almost immediately, Leaf felt Lithium tense. She rolled her eyes. _What are you worrying about? I'd never be able to replace you, you know. It's just...I'm curious._

_If you insist. You also wanted to ask about Vesuvius, no?_

_Yeah, and the ring. _Leaf paused. UGH_, this is so frustrating! You don't know how much I really, _really _want to talk to Red but he's always so _busy_!_

There was a sudden, loud clatter of metal on tile flooring and Leaf's gaze shot up immediately to investigate the source. It wasn't difficult at all to deduct that the perpetrator was Gary, who had apparently dropped his sword on the ground and was now staring (or was he _glaring_?) at it with his mouth a tight line. May's eyes were flickering back and forth between Gary and Leaf, and were simultaneously amused and startled.

_...Leaf, love, you said that out loud._

"...Oh," mused Leaf, partial realization dawning on her as she watched Gary bend over, pick up his work, and resumed what he was doing. The stoic iciness that overtook him so suddenly didn't leave. In truth, it kind of intimidated Leaf, and as she continued to eye him, she genuinely wondered what overcame him.

May, on the other hand, seemed as if she was biting back laughter. A few seconds of awkward silence later, the brunette teased, "Clumsy as ever, Gary."

Leaf thought she heard him grunt or something in reply, but when another few seconds passed without anyone saying any comprehensible words, she decided to chip in, "Well, maybe we _are_ getting clumsy. It's been a while since we've properly trained or fought."

"You're suggesting a fight?" asked May, her lips splitting into a wide, innocent smile.

Leaf grinned. "Do you want to go, May?"

May leapt to her feet. She punched the air with a newfound fire blazing in her eyes that Leaf realized she hadn't seen in a while.

"ALKALI, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

"...May, you spoke out loud while talking to Alkali again."

"...Oops."

* * *

We are so out of shape, thought Leaf as she and Lithium took a moment to catch their breath while May and Alkali corkscrewed downwards right before stopping with a loud unfurling of wings. _And out of touch with attacking._

_ You are_, retorted Lithium as she took a sharp intake of breath and exhaled a barrage of amethyst fire down in May and Alkali's general direction. A small explosion sounded as the fire pelted the ground, and a cloud of smoke appeared as a result.

_Didn't hit, or else there'd be more roaring or screaming_, Leaf reasoned.

_Or input from the spectators_, added Lithium. _Speaking of which__—__we've attracted quite a crowd._

_ Then let's give 'em a show_, replied Leaf, the ghost of smile haunting her lips as she leaned forward and caught a glimpse of the two dozen or so people watching the battle on the ground. _We're too far, let's go lower. But fast._

Leaf felt Lithium's neck angle downwards and the rest of her silvery body quickly followed. As they flew down at speeds rivaling that of sound, Lithium focused a small amount of psychic energy on the surrounding air to give them a bit of a tailwind to propel them even quicker.

They were diving headfirst into the cloud of smoke, but when they were about halfway down, May and Alkali sprang out of the fumes with an already large fireball still charging in Alkali's mouth.

Startled, Leaf shifted her center of balance to the side as quickly as she could. As a result, she felt Lithium's body follow immediately. They rolled to the left, narrowly missing the onslaught that would've been sure to happen.

_We're not done yet_, Leaf warned. Lithium gave a firm but subtle nod as they came to a halt in mid-air and took a few seconds to search for their opponents.

_Two o'clock, ginormous fireball still charging._

Leaf twisted her head in the direction given and was promptly taken aback by a huge ball of fire seemingly floating in mid-air—a huge fireball that was growing ever larger as the maker it now dwarfed continued to charge it. _Now _that_ is a ginormous fireball._

Just then, a strand of fire about a foot in width darted out from the fireball.

_Get ready to dodge_, said Leaf, feeling both her and Lithium tense as they waited for the inevitable attack.

A second passed. Two seconds. Three. Four.

The strand of fire never came near Leaf and Lithium.

_What's she planning?_ wondered Leaf as she watched meter after meter of fiery ribbon snake around in the air but never once actually aiming for her.

A few more precious seconds passed, and all Leaf and Lithium were doing was hover. That is, until Lithium suddenly jolted and before Leaf knew it, she was hanging on for dear life.

_It's a trap_, hissed Lithium. _Look around._

_ It's surrounding us, _realized Leaf. _Wait, it's all closing in! Lithium, can't you__—_

_ No, _her dragon cut in, already knowing what Leaf was going to say. _The fire's traveling too fast and with too much energy right now for me to try to control it. _

_ It's getting hot_... thought Leaf as a bead of sweat dripped down her cheek. She clenched her teeth. _There's really nothing we can do?_

_ ...only thing...gamble on dodging..._

_ Wait, what'd you say? _asked Leaf.

_ I didn't say anything, _replied Lithium.

_But I heard something about the only thing and...gamble on dodging? _said Leaf, genuinely confused now.

_I didn't say anything_, reiterated the silver dragon. _But that does indeed sound like our only option now. _

_ What're you going to__—HOLY AR—! _screamed Leaf mentally as Lithium folded her wings and, without warning, accelerated like a bullet into one particular part of the layers of fire. The flames were hot, and Lithium was swerving in and out of them _so quickly_ while the threads of inferno themselves were incessantly darting about faster than the speed of sound. Leaf found herself ducking into the crook of Lithium's neck, trusting, hoping, _praying _for the dragon to get them out of this successfully.

It seemed so much longer, all the twisting and turning in the raging heat that Lithium did, but after a few seconds, out of the corner of her eye, Leaf could see a clear patch of blue sky. Thinking that they were out of the woods, a grin split over her lips and she rose again...

...only to get lashed back down by an _excruciatingly _sharp, burning pain that felt like a knife into her skin that somehow electrocuted her at the same time and _was something burning__—_?!

_We're through_, declared Lithium, and suddenly, a blast of cool air assailed Leaf. It felt amazing for the first few milliseconds, but in the next instant, it made the part where one of the fire threads touched her skin hell.

Wincing but not daring to touch or look at her arm, Leaf said, _Go for the fire_, and sent Lithium a quick image of her battle plan.

The moment the fire trap began morphing was the moment Lithium began flying again, though there was something about the way that Lithium was flying now that bothered Leaf, if only minimally. Thinking little of it, Leaf focused on the way a familiar violet glow grew from the blazing sphere. Suddenly, a part of the sphere burst into numerous jets of fire, which Lithium directed over to May and Alkali who were quickly surrounded and hidden from view.

_I see...so May blinded...attack._

_ Uh, Lithium, did you just__—?_

_ No_, _but I heard it, _replied Lithium, quickly returning to focusing on the task at hand.

The corner of Leaf's lips pulled down. What were those words, that voice that's popped up twice now?

_Well, whatever. For a later time_, thought Leaf as an ethereal purple glow suddenly surrounded both her and Lithium's bodies. _Let's go!_

Less than three seconds later, the sphere of psychic fire encasing May and Alkali suddenly broke apart with a dramatic explosion as the power of a psychic-power-surrounded-dragon-flying-over-three- hundred-meters-per-second collided with its own web of psychic power and fire. The force sent May toppling over Alkali and, for a moment, falling towards the ground, but Lithium caught the girl a moment later and all was well.

"Good match," said Leaf conversationally as Lithium began her descent to the ground, and as if they hadn't just tried to blow each other up and suffocate each other with fire.

May grinned. "You, too."

The first person to hurry over and greet them when they safely touched ground was White, though Gary was close to follow. Many of the two dozen people that had gathered to watch began ambling away, though several were nodding appreciatively.

"That was a great battle, you two!" exclaimed White, slapping each of them a high-five and giving the dragons head rubs.

"Thanks, White!" said May, smiling sheepishly.

"Alright, but you're losing your touches," was the next sentence to be said, and by none other than Gary Oak as he sauntered up, his hands in his pockets. "Lots of rookie mistakes."

Just as Leaf grumbled, "Can it, Gary," an interruption of a controlled clap backed by a, "Well, _I _thought it was pretty good," sounded.

"Red!" said May, slightly astonished that the boy whom Leaf had been complaining about all week because she hadn't seen him was now right in front of them.

"Red," said Leaf, blinking as if she wasn't sure whether or not he was really walking up to them, a playful and impressed gleam in his ruby eyes.

"You didn't tell me you were so good at fighting," chuckled Red. "Neither of you did."

"Well, we've only trained for it our entire lives," said Gary, his tone unreadable and his face stiff. "It's right that they _should _be _at least _decent."

Red's eyebrows creased, May rolled her eyes and muttered, "Here we go," under her breath, and Leaf felt her eye twitch.

"I...didn't mean it as a provocation," said Red hesitantly.

"Hey, hey, now let's just get along," chided White lightly.

"Yeah! It was just a mock battle, nothing to get excited about," laughed May sheepishly. "So, you know, let's just all calm down..."

"He's the one who didn't think we're competent fighters, apparently," said Gary, venom lacing his voice.

"I didn't say that," said Red softly.

"Seriously, Leaf, why do you idolize this guy? All you've been going on about all week is them," said Gary flatly, gesturing to Red and White. "What's so great about 'em? I bet I could take _him _any day."

"Aaand the lion has been tempted out of its den," muttered White with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Leaf, who was confused and a bit intimidated by White's words, turned back to the simmering argument at hand.

"Maybe we should pretend we don't know him," whispered May as she leaned into Leaf.

"Know who?" replied Leaf wearily, and May giggled.

"Fine," said Red, his tone suddenly devoid of all his lightheartedness as he stared straight ahead. His jaw was clenched. "I'd never back down from a challenge."

Gary smirked.

"Neither do I."

* * *

things just got real yo

reviews are appreciated and thanks for reading! :) (reviews are also for yelling at us for pulling two false family plot twist alarms on you guys. you're welcome xP)

-Apheleia


	20. Chapter 20

May stood between White and Leaf, half-tempted to cower behind the latter as Red and Gary continued to stare each other down, their glares turning the air frigid. Red had a look of cold indifference on his face, and May couldn't help but admire how elegant and poised he looked—almost regal, in a way.

"Dragons or no?" he asked calmly, a flicker of something indescribable flashing through his crimson eyes. May wondered if he was angered by Gary's insults (the boy should really learn how to shut his mouth sometimes) or if the rebel lifestyle always made him this serious when having a battle.

Gary tried to maintain a cool composure, but May could tell he felt quite angry and threatened by the way his gray eyes were basically smoldering as he scowled at Red. He was obviously nowhere near as calm and composed as the ebony-haired man. Trying to keep a level voice, he replied, "Dragons."

May's eyes flickered to Leaf, who looked just as confused as May felt. Even if Gary did have an ego that was too big for his own good, she didn't think he would go so far as to challenge an obviously skilled and experienced fighter like Red. (Well, at least she _assumed_ he was a phenomenal fighter; Leaf had told her that he was the leader of Silverhaven's council and apparently they were all skilled at fighting.)

White, on the other hand, didn't look confused, just a little exasperated and slightly amused.

"Fine then," Red said, and made a sweeping gesture with his hand that would have looked stupid if not for the serious aura he emitted. "Call your dragon here then."

"Fine," Gary stiffly echoed, and after a minute or so of waiting the trees encircling the training grounds started to shake violently as a harsh wind buffeted them. A second later Azreth appeared, his wings stirring up the air around him and he landed beside Gary with a loud boom.

The brunet smirked at his opponent as the intimidating obsidian dragon let out a fearsome roar that made May clutch onto Leaf's shoulder as the air shook.

"You can still back out if you want to," Gary cockily told Red.

Red's cold expression disappeared for a second as he gave Gary an amused and almost taunting grin. "That's a pretty impressive dragon you have," he drawled. "But you might want to wait for my dragon to arrive before you think of asking me that question again."

Gary's brow furrowed slightly. "Oh really? Then where is your dragon so we can get this match started and I can prove how easy it is to beat you?" (May really doubted Gary was going to win—no offense to her friend's partner or anything.)

Red continued to smile, but this time it was a little less amused and there was a cold glint in his otherwise bright eyes. "Right above you," he replied just as an enormous shadow engulfed where Azreth and the five humans were standing.

Everyone—save Red—craned their neck to look up into the sky to see what was blocking out the sun, and May's jaw literally dropped as her eyes fell on the huge dragon circling above them.

As the giant dragon slowly descended in a spiral, May took in the dragon's appearance with wide eyes.

The dragon was_ huge_—hell, May could easily tell that it was bigger than Azreth even from a distance, and for a long time she thought _he_ was the largest dragon in existence. (In the back of her mind she wondered just _how_ large dragons could grow.) The dragon was burgundy in color, but in the light of the sun its scales looked like they contained less purple and more red, and with the way the sun was shining down on the dragon it gave the dragon's scales the appearance of being on fire.

May thought it was very fitting—if not a bit cliché—that Red's dragon was the same color as his name. (Cue snort.)

Regardless, May could not tear her eyes away from the magnificent dragon as it elegantly landed next to Red and folded its wings in an almost nonchalant way. Even without roaring or flaunting its size like Azreth had, Red's dragon had an intimidating vibe about it that automatically commanded respect and inspired awe in anyone who saw it.

May was not exempt from this.

She gaped at the dragon, quietly admiring the dragon on the inside whereas Leaf blatantly said May's thoughts out loud. "Wow, your dragon's gorgeous, Red," she breathed in awe, and when May glanced at her she saw the adoration shining in her friend's eyes.

Red glanced at her, giving her a quick grin. "His name's Ceprien and he's a fire-type dragon," he proudly stated, giving said dragon's front leg a pat. Leaf nodded, looking quite pleased that the man had given her his attention, if only for a few seconds.

For a split second May had a devious feeling Leaf's adoration wasn't _just_ for Red's dragon, but then her gaze drifted to Gary and that thought flew out of her mind. The boy's eyes were locked on Leaf, and he looked _pissed_.

May had to force herself not to grin stupidly. _The almighty Gary isn't—dare I say it—_jealous_, is he? _she thought, thoroughly amused. _Is this what this whole fight is about?_

Oh, she was _definitely_ going to have a little chat with Gary later about her best friend. (And, y'know, possibly threaten him if her suspicions were proved to be true.)

"So do _you_ still want to battle?" Red asked Gary in a mocking tone, and the brunet threw an icy glare at him. "Because, y'know, you can still back out if you want to."

"Let's just start this battle already," Gary all but snarled, already turning to stride over to Azreth and mount him.

Red just shrugged and turned to mount his own dragon, and May was content to stare at the magnificent fire-type dragon (even Alkali was swooning over the other fire dragon; May knew because of their bond), but her attention was drawn away from Ceprien when White jumped and let out a yelp as something gray darted past her and headed straight for Red.

He turned—hearing White's yell—just in time to brace himself as the gray streak (which May realized was a tiny dragon) brushed against his legs before jumping up and wrapping itself around his shoulders and rubbing its face against the man's cheek.

This new dragon was barely more than a meter, maybe a meter and a half long, which was ridiculously small for a dragon. (May assumed it was either a very young dragon or a non-bonded dragon, since she hadn't seen a dragon that small since Alkali first hatched.) Its scales were a very light, almost transparent gray, but May noticed with interest that whenever the sun shined on its scales, it turned a faint yellow color as its scales reflected the sunlight.

Red couldn't hold back a smile as he scratched the dragon's head, letting out a chuckle as he said, "Hey there, buddy. I haven't seen you for a couple of days. Where have you been?" The dragon simply purred in reply.

May couldn't control her curiosity. "Hey, White," she said, turning to face the blue-eyed brunette beside her. "Whose dragon is that?" she asked, pointing at the small dragon on Red's shoulder.

White glanced at the dragon and then smiled. "Oh, that's just Lazare. He's not bonded to anybody, but Red takes care of him, although the little guy tends to disappear for a while sometimes," she laughed, albeit awkwardly. "So yeah, that's Lazare."

May nodded and was about to reply with something like, "Ah, I see," when she heard Leaf gasp just a second before she exclaimed, "_Lazare_?"

* * *

Leaf's eyes widened and she slapped her hand over her mouth as soon as she realized she'd just yelled Lazare's name out loud in her surprise. May turned to stare at her like she was crazy, while behind her White looked alarmed and was gesturing for her to keep her mouth shut as May asked, "Hey Leaf, are you okay?"

Slowly, Leaf removed her hands from her mouth and tried to be nonchalant as she replied, "Um, yeah, I'm fine." She gave May a hesitant smile as the girl gave her a quizzical look, and Leaf prayed that May didn't ask about Lazare because that could lead to her finding out all of her, Red, and possibly White's secrets.

"Uh…okay," May muttered before turning to look at Red, Gary, and their dragons again.

Leaf breathed a sigh of relief but she still couldn't help but feel nervous and slightly giddy as she stared at Lazare, silently trying to recall any memories of her dragon before Lithium. Almost unconsciously, she whispered, "Lazare…"

As if sensing her gaze (or somehow just miraculously hearing her) the tiny dragon stopped rubbing against Red's cheek and lifted its head to stare directly at her, and Leaf could have sworn that recognition flashed through the dragon's piercing yellow eyes as she met his gaze. Red followed the dragon's gaze and when he saw Leaf and Lazare staring at each other, he smiled.

However, the moment was broken by a dragon's voice splitting Leaf's thoughts.

_Hey! That's that evil little munchkin of a dragon that keeps attacking me!_ Azreth growled in Gary and Leaf's mind. _Gare, you _have_ to let me pummel that rat! Please? Lithium never let me—even after it bit my tail and didn't let go for over an hour!_

Leaf glanced at Gary and saw the unwilling yet amused expression on his face.

_Arceus damn it! Come on, please, Gare? _Azreth whined a second later, and Leaf assumed Gary had replied with a no.

Gary sighed a second after that and looked at Red, and even though he seemed calmer now there was still a hint of disdain in his voice as he said, "Crimson, my dragon wants to fight against your little gray one. Deal?"

"It's Red," Red corrected him in an emotionless tone. "And Lazare isn't my dragon, so I can't decide that."

Gary's brow furrowed in irritation. "But-!"

He was going to argue further, but Lazare leaped off of Red's shoulder and hissed at Azreth, his yellow eyes narrowing at the black dragon. Azreth held his head up high and glared down at the little dragon, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

"See, even it wants to find Azreth!" Gary said victoriously.

Leaf really wanted to correct him that Lazare was a "he" and not an "it", but she didn't want to risk ticking him off.

Red glowered for a second before closing his eyes and sighing. "Ah, fine. I'll fight with Lazare. That's okay with you, right?" he asked the gray dragon, who tilted his head forward in an almost unnoticeable nod. "Well then that settles it. Ready to fight?" He turned to Gary, his lighter side vanishing underneath his icy expression once again.

"As long as you're ready to lose," Gary quipped, smirking. "It shouldn't be too hard to take out a dragon that's smaller than me."

Red smiled slightly. "If you're so confident then you can have the first move," he offered.

_…have to prove…in battle._

Leaf froze, trying to pin where the voice had come from. _Damn, _she thought. _That's the third time I've heard that voice… Where is it coming from?_

_ Perhaps it is somebody's thoughts?_ Lithium speculated, and Leaf remembered that she was relaxing in the shade of the trees behind her with Alkali after their battle. _That's certainly what it sounds like._

Leaf frowned. _True, true…but the question is _whose_ thoughts could they be…?_ Her eyes skimmed over all of the people and dragons around her. _It can't be May, White, Red, Ceprien, or Alkali because I'm not bonded to them in any way. Could they be Azreth's thoughts?_

_ No. Even though I can talk to and understand Azreth through our native dragon tongue, I know that when he speaks to you through the bond his voice is clear in your head, not broken up like this speech._

_ Then who else could it be?_ Leaf wondered.

_We'll discuss this more later. _Lithium shushed her. _The battle is about to start and I want to watch the beast fail miserably and get beaten by your little dragon._

Leaf grumbled a bit but quieted down and found that she was actually excited to watch and see what a fight between her brother and her partner was going to be like. (And, y'know, what Red's battling style was like and all that stuff.) Azreth and Lazare were still glaring at each other, and Leaf held her breath as she waited for Gary to make the first move.

Suddenly, Azreth lunged forward in an attempt to try and bite Lazare, but the tiny dragon easily darted out of the way. Red, who was (obviously) too big to ride on Lazare and was instead standing beside the gray dragon when Azreth attacked, calmly stepped to the side to avoid getting hit by the obsidian dragon.

Gary was on Azreth's back, and fire flashed in his eyes as he ordered Azreth to attack the gray dragon again. Azreth eagerly complied and threw his head back, a flame growing in his mouth before he launched it at Lazare.

The little dragon let out an annoyed snarl and jumped away from the blast as the fire made contact with the ground, zigzagging between Azreth's front legs and darting behind him, clapping his jaw's down on the larger dragon's tail.

Azreth let out an angered and slightly pained roar, and behind her Leaf heard Lithium snort in amusement as the female dragon said in her mind, _Ah, the infamous tail bite…_

_ He does that often?_ Leaf asked, recalling the time Lithium had showed her an image of Azreth prancing around like an idiot with Lazare firmly clamped down on his tail.

_Yes. It's hilarious!_ Lithium replied with mirth, watching as Azreth angrily thrashed his tail up and down and side to side as he tried to get Lazare off. He finally dislodged the little dragon, throwing him across the clearing. Lazare clambered back onto his feet, glaring at Azreth as the black dragon thrashed his tail back and forth, looking like he was ready to attack.

_...a tail swipe…_

_That voice again?_ Leaf thought._ It sounds like a battle attack…_

True to the voice's word, Azreth swung his tail around in a large arc a second later, trying to swat Lazare aside. However, Red had to dodge the attack too; fluidly diving over Azreth's tail and rolling as he hit the ground.

Leaf didn't notice that until then Red had been sneaking towards Azreth while Lazare distracted him, and that roll brought Red right up next to the dragon in a spot that neither Gary nor Azreth could see him in.

As Lazare darted in between Azreth's legs, trying to trip him up, Red ducked under Azreth and jabbed the spot right where his front leg and shoulder met.

Azreth's leg gave out a second later and he let out a surprised snarl as he lost his balance and nearly hit his chin against the ground. Red and Lazare dashed out from under him before they got crushed underneath him.

"Azreth, take to the sky!" Gary shouted when he realized that as long as his dragon was on the ground Red could pull a stunt like that again.

The large dragon replied a second later, unfurling his wings and propelling himself off the ground with one massive downward flap of his wings. As he got into the air, though, Gary jumped off of him and landed beneath him in the dragon's shadow.

As soon as Gary hit the ground he vanished, and Leaf heard White gasp on the other side of May. Leaf and May knew that he was using that secret "blending into the shadows" trick that he'd learned in the Darkness Ridge dorm, so they weren't particularly surprised.

Red's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to figure out where Gary was, not worried but simply surprised. For a second Leaf thought she saw Gary's outline flicker into view for a moment before he disappeared again, and was puzzled because she'd never seen that happen before when he did that. (Then again, he always used that trick to sneak up on her so her back was turned half the time.)

_…see…in shadows…_ the voice said again, and Leaf was a bit freaked out. These battle commands…it made it sound like the voice was actually _in the battle._

Just then Gary appeared again, fist flying towards Red's face, but Red must have seen him flicker into view like Leaf did before then because he easily turned and caught Gary's fist with his hand. Gary's eyes widened but he quickly retaliated by trying to kick Red in the head, who reacted by ducking under his foot without missing a beat.

Other than Azreth and Lazare, Red and Gary were the only other two people battling—and Leaf _knew_ it couldn't be Red's voice she was hearing—and Gary was the only person she hadn't thought of and dismissed as owning the voice yet, so…

Leaf internally panicked. She wasn't hearing _Gary's_ voice in her head, was she? _No no no! I can't be hearing his thoughts because that means he'll be able to hear mine and then he'll find out all my secrets and that _cannot _happen!_

_…left hook…front jab…_

* * *

Meanwhile, May was watching in amazement as Red effortlessly blocked, ducked, and dodged every punch and kick the brunet tried to hit him with. Lazare had taken to the skies to confront Azreth, so the two humans were left on the ground to fight it out themselves.

While they fought, Azreth and Lazare were circling each other up in the air, occasionally taking swipes at each other. However, when Azreth spat a ball of fire at Lazare, the little dragon corkscrewed around it and headed straight for Azreth.

Azreth growled in annoyance, trying to bat the gray dragon out of the air, but Lazare was skilled at dodging and the obsidian dragon's paw missed its mark, allowing for Lazare to fly around Azreth and land on his back.

Azreth threw his head back and forth, trying to see where Lazare was as the dragon climbed onto one of Azreth's wings and bit down right where the joint between his wing and back was. Azreth howled and his wing folded in despite his brain's command to keep it out.

Lazare snickered, unfurling his tiny wings and flying away from Azreth, watching as the massive dragon struggled to keep himself in the air with just one wing.

Finally, knowing he wasn't that far away from the ground and he was losing altitude anyways, Azreth folded his remaining wing back in against his back and let himself fall.

White, who had been watching the aerial battle between the dragons with interest, yelled out a warning when she saw that Azreth was right above Red and Gary. "LOOK OUT!" she screamed, and the two boys paused from fighting just in time to jump out of the way as Azreth hit the ground where they had been standing just a second ago with a loud, ground-shaking thud.

Gary stared with wide eyes at Azreth's unmoving form (May knew the dragon wasn't seriously injured or anything or else Gary would have already been by his side—but it was obvious that Azreth was out for the count) and Red took advantage of that moment of shock, grabbing Gary's arms and twisting them behind them.

Gary tried to struggle, but it was too late because Red already had his arms locked behind his back. He tried to kick Red in the shins like he'd done to the bandits from before, but Red saw this coming and pushed Gary down on the ground on his stomach, rendering him basically immobile.

Gary had lost.

* * *

After a few seconds Red let go and stood back to let Gary get up, who only did so after a moment, very, very slowly. He kept his eyes on the ground as he stood up, not looking at Red or anybody else.

"Hey, good battle." Red held out his hand to shake in a friendly way, but Gary ignored it and kept his gaze downward. Red frowned and withdrew his hand, instead crossing his arm over his chest. He had wanted to end the battle on a friendly tone, but if the kid was going to be cold to him, he would be cold in return.

"Do you want to know why you lost?" he asked.

Gary didn't respond, but his hands clenched into fist.

"You let your emotions get the better of you and they distracted you from fighting with your full potential." Gary gritted his teeth and looked away, and Red paused to take in his facial expression. "I'm telling you this so that this doesn't happen again in actual battle against enemies that won't hesitate to kill you if you slip up."

Gary snorted and grumbled under his breath, "Like I don't already know that…"

Red's lips twitched in amusement. "Gary," he said, clasping his hand on the boy's shoulder. Gary tried to shrug his hand off, but Red's grip held firm. "You're an amazing fighter for your age—one of the best I've ever seen—but everyone has room for improvement."

Gary glared at the ground, making no move to acknowledge what Red was saying. Red hesitated before continuing.

"I can tell that you don't normally fight like this. Maybe your normal reason for fighting wasn't there this time. The reason I fight…well, that's to protect things I care about," Red murmured. "Things like this base…the people in it…stuff like that." He looked at Gary. "Do you know why I accepted your challenge?"

"…Why?" Gary unwilling asked after a moment of silence.

"To protect Leaf." Gary's eyes flashed and couldn't help but glare daggers at Red. The crimson-eyed man tried not to smirk, pleased that he finally got a reaction out of him.

"I care about her," he said quietly. "And by helping you get over whatever's bothering you during your battles means that during any real battles you'll be able to defend her, right?"

Gary didn't reply, once again looking at the ground so that Red couldn't see the turmoil of emotions in his eyes.

"You're partners, right? And partners protect each other. That means you've got to watch her back for me when I'm not there."

Red's hand let go of his shoulder and Gary's head snapped up—mostly because he was getting fed up with this guy trying to give him advice _and_ talking about _his _partner and he wanted to tell him to _back off_—but Red was already walking over to where Leaf and May were standing, waiting for them.

When Red got a few meters away, though, he turned around and winked at Gary, saying two words that threw him for a loop.

"Good luck."

* * *

May tried to inconspicuously watch Gary and Red as they talked in the middle of the battlefield, even though it wasn't like she would get caught—Leaf was deep in thought (probably discussing something with Lithium) and White had left after the fight ended, apologizing before she ran off to go take care of some Resistance stuff.

Whatever Red was saying, it was certainly ticking Gary off—she could see him practically scowling at the raven-haired man even from all the way over here!

Finally, after seemingly forever, Red left Gary and began walking over to where May and Leaf stood, pausing to say one last thing to Gary before joining them.

Leaf snapped out of her thoughts just as Red stopped in front of them. "That was an amazing battle, Red!" she said admiringly, her voice full of awe. "I've never witnessed anybody fight like that before! Who trained—?" She cut herself off, and May thought she saw a flicker of fear in her friend's bright green eyes.

Red looked uneasy, too, but May wasn't one to dwell on things for very long. "You're a really amazing fighter, Red," she said, grinning out of habit. "Gary needed a good kick to his giant ego, so don't feel bad about destroying him."

Red laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Just then Lazare scampered over to the trio, tangling himself in Leaf's legs this time inside of Red's. Leaf, startled, made a small sound as she lost her balance, desperately windmilling her arms to try to keep herself upright.

May was about to reach out and grab her friend's hand to stabilize her when Red discretely held his arm up in front of her, holding her back. She glanced at Red, but he gave her a knowing wink so she stood down.

Leaf finally lost her balance and—feeling herself falling—closed her eyes and prepared to hit the ground, but instead she felt arms wrap around her midriff from behind and heard a grunt as she hit somebody's chest.

She opened her eyes as whoever had caught her helped her back onto her feet, only realizing that her pendant was visibly shaking from the contact of the person who caught her just as the hands withdrew from around her.

She quickly spun around and found herself face to face with Gary, whose eyes were slightly widened in surprise because of her sudden movement. "I, ah…errr," she stammered, not knowing what to say. _"Hey, great effort, but you still lost."_ No, that would just be cruel if she said that.

Gary's lips twitched. "I know being held in my arms is like a dream come true to you, but tone down your enthusiasm just a little bit, yeah?" he said, a teasing gleam in his eyes. "Then maybe you can make out a sentence."

Leaf pressed her lips into a tight line and tried to keep the blood from rushing to her cheeks, even though she knew it was useless. She was embarrassed that Gary decided to stop PMSing and return to his annoying flirty self (she couldn't deny that she was just a _tiny_ bit happy that he was acting normally again) at this moment, _right in front of her brother_.

At that moment Lazare decided to get rid of the awkwardness by lingering too close to Leaf just as she took a small step back, causing her to trip over him once again. This time two _different_ arms reached out and caught her, pulling her back on to her feet.

Leaf let out a small shriek of pain as the two did so; pulling her left arm out of the grip of the one who had caught it (which just so happened to be Gary) as soon as she was back on her feet and cradling it near her body.

"Leaf, are you okay?" May worriedly questioned, peeking around Red (who still had a light grip on her right arm) and trying to figure out why Leaf cried out in pain.

"My arm…" Leaf trailed off, her hand gripping a spot on the upper half of her left arm. Red gently pulled her hand away, revealing a slightly swelled area that was bright red. His hand skimmed across it lightly, but Leaf pulled her arm away, shielding the wound with her hand again. She didn't notice the wound until now, but it _hurt_.

"That's a burn wound," Red said. "It's not severe or anything, just a light first-degree burn. You probably got it during your battle with May when you plunged through the flames."

May's eyes widened as he spoke, and her mouth opened as soon as his closed. "Oh my Arceus I'm so sorry Leaf I didn't mean to burn you if I had known this was going to happen I wouldn't have had Alkali-!"

"It's fine, May," Leaf chuckled, trying to hide a grimace. "I'll just go to the medical ward and have them put some burn cream on it or something."

"I'll take—"

"I'll walk you over there," Red said, worry evident in his tone. He didn't even glance at Gary after he cut him off, already placing a guiding hand on Leaf's unwounded arm and steering her towards the medical ward.

As they walked off, May couldn't help but notice the way Gary glared at Red's retreating back, and couldn't help but to roll her eyes.

"You're such a sissy," May told him once the two were out of sight.

Gary turned and raised an eyebrow at the brunette, not amused in the slightest. "I'm a what?" he asked blankly.

"A coward," May reiterated. "Every time you're around Red or Leaf mentions him you either start acting like a child throwing a fit because they just had their favorite toy taken away or a jealous brat."

"Jealous?" Gary scoffed. "That word's not in my vocabulary."

"Well now it is," May growled. "So learn the definition of it fast, 'cause that's what you're suffering from."

Gary rolled his eyes. "Now May, think this over for a second. Why would I—_Gary Oak—_have any reason to be jealous?"

"Because Leaf and Red have taken an interest in each other," May replied in a smug tone, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt a spark of triumph as Gary's eyes darkened at the mention of Red's name, and couldn't hold back a grin. "Want my help?" she asked.

Gary's gaze flickered to her, and he frowned. "With what?"

"Getting you and Leaf together—" Gary gave her a malicious glare. "—I mean making sure Leaf and Red _don't _get together!"

He turned away from her, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Thanks but no thanks, December. It's true I don't like that Red guy—or that White girl—but it's because I feel like they're hiding something from us. And _if_ I wanted a girl…don't you think I could easily get her by myself?"

He started walking away, but May quickly jogged over to him. "With what—because _I _don't see _anything_ that appeals to me, as a woman," she taunted. Gary stopped walking and glared at her, and she took his pause as an opportunity to reach up and squish his cheeks together with her hands, causing his lips to pucker out in a "fish face". "See how unattractive that is? I bet girls look at you and think you're a little boy—but thankfully for _you_, Gary dearest, I'm here to help you out. By the end of the day," May vowed, an evil glint in her eye that Gary shied away from. "I swear to Arceus that I'll make a man out of you."

Gary stared at May incredulously for a moment. "…You're serious, aren't you?" he asked after a long pause.

"Of course I am! How could you not believe me? You're so cruel!" May dramatically cried out, bringing a hand to her forehead. Gary rolled his eyes. "Now," she exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Let's get down to business, to bring you relief!"

"I swear to Arceus you're crazy," Gary muttered as she started singing.

"When did you become jealous over Leaf?" May interrogated him in a singsong voice, eyeing him warily and jabbing him in the chest with a finger. "You're the most pathetic guy I've ever met—"

"Hey!"

"—but you can bet, before we're through, Mister I'll make a man out of you!"

Gary ran a tired hand through his hair and down his face, trying to keep his cool. "Great," he groaned. "Just great. Now she's singing her own version of Mulan."

* * *

The daylight was waning as Leaf practiced her fighting skills, elegantly wielding her katana with ease as she spun around and swung the sword in a strike that would have sliced somebody's head off were it to make contact.

As she went through the basic fighting movements, she let her mind wander off into her thoughts.

Earlier Leaf had accidently almost revealed her secret to May _twice,_ and although she had managed to prevent peaking May's interest it was still too close for comfort for Leaf. (Seriously, why had she asked Red who trained him? It's not like he could nonchalantly reply, "Oh, y'know, just the head of the royal guard.") She was also still wondering (and freaking out about) whether or not it _was_ Gary's voice in her head earlier. Right now, though, she didn't want to think about that.

After Red had taken her to the medical ward and her arm was treated (a white bandage was now wrapped around the injured area), her brother had once again disappeared—off to fill his role as a council member—leaving Leaf to wander around the base until she arrived at where she was now.

"Where she was now" was inside a spacious building that had a slightly transparent roof, allowing some sunlight in from outside. Weapons of all sorts decorated the walls, and after asking a passerby what this place was, they replied that it was the building where everyone practiced and honed their weapon-fighting skills.

Leaf really wasn't in the mood to hang out with May or Gary, and since she didn't know where either White or Red were, she resigned to practicing with her katana for the evening.

Of course, swinging a blade around for a long time can become rather boring, so it wasn't surprising when Leaf abandoned her practice and went over to admire all of the weapons on the wall.

She was standing in front of a table with a sword stand on top of it—admiring a beautifully made sword with rubies in its handle that was sitting on the stand—which a voice spoke from behind her, scaring her out of her wits.

"Beautiful sword, isn't it?"

Leaf jumped, spinning around to confront whoever had spoken but accidently bumping the table in the process. The stand wobbled back and forth, and Leaf turn around again just in time to witness it fall over, sending the ruby sword rolling across the table and then crashing to the ground.

Leaf gaped in horror, her throat going dry. "Oh my Arceus I'm so sorry I—" Leaf began to apologize frantically but when she turned around and spotted an amused White leaning against the doorway, her shoulders slumped. "Oh, it's just you, White."

"And hello to you, too. You could have been a just _bit_ less enthusiastic about your greeting, though," she greeted in a slightly sarcastic voice, strolling over to Leaf as the green-eyed girl gently picked up the fallen sword.

As White set the stand back up, Leaf checked the sword for any nicks, scratches, or dents. "I apologize to the owner of this sword for knocking it over," Leaf murmured apologetically as she handed the sword over to White.

"Ah, don't bother," White said as she put the sword back on the stand. "This is Red's sword—not like he ever uses it. Most of the time it just sits here. And anyways, I doubt Red would scold his little sister after just reuniting with her after so long," she added with a wink. "But just be thankful you haven't seen Red when he's seriously angry. It's _terrifying_." She shivered.

"Speaking of Red, I was talking to him earlier about your friend," White idly said, skimming her finger along the flat part of a dagger on the wall.

"Which one?"

"The green-haired one. The one that May told me about."

Leaf struggled to keep her voice from wavering. "You mean…Drew?"

"Yeah, him." White nodded, taking the dagger off of the wall to examine it more thoroughly. "I told Red about him, and he told me about somebody that may be able to locate him."

"Are you serious?" Leaf couldn't help but gasp. "Really?"

"Yeah. Red said there's this girl named Sabrina in the Resistance, and apparently she's got these amazing psychic powers and stuff. He said that if you asked her to she might be able to pin down Drew's location using them."

Leaf grinned. Wait until she told May this—the girl would be ecstatic!

"Where can I find this 'Sabrina'?" she asked.

White put the dagger back. "She lives at a Resistance academy called Inlusio Academy. It's like Savoir Faire Academy except for, well… Anyways, it's to the west of here—across the mountains—in a fairly large town named Stonecrest."

Leaf's excitement dimmed a little. She had been hoping that this Sabrina girl was here, at _this_ base…

"Oh…well, thanks for telling me. And thank Red for me, too, since I'm sure you see him more often than I do," she said with a weak, only half-forced smile.

White offered her a brilliant smile in return. "I just want to help you guys find your friend in any way I can. My experience with Touya and May's with Drew is very similar," she sighed, and Leaf wanted to say something to comfort her about her brother, but White perked up again before she could.

"Ha-ha, sorry for getting all depressing," she apologized with a laugh. "Anyways, I have to get going—Resistance stuff and all, you know."

"I should probably leave too and go look for Gary and May," Leaf hummed, sheathing her sword and stretching out her arms. "I haven't seen them since the battle between Gary and Red earlier. I wonder what they're doing," she mused.

* * *

"You must be smooth as a coursing river—"

A few people walking by were giving the singing brunette weird looks, while the brunet beside her just covered his face with his hand in embarrassment.

"—with all the flirt of a great typhoon—"

Gary sighed. "May can you just stop already?"

"—with all the love of a raging fire—"

He threw his hands up in the air. "I give up!"

"—sexy as the dark side of the moooon!" May hit a crescendo before she finally stopped singing, panting and placing her hands behind her head as she tried to catch her breath.

Gary eyed her warily for a few moments before he spoke. "Are you done now?" he asked, a hint of irritation in his voice.

May nodded, taking a little more time to recover before she stood up straight and grinned at Gary. "So, how was that for helpfulness, eh?" She playfully nudged him with her elbow, but he just gave her an indifferent look.

"I tuned out before you hit the second verse," he deadpanned.

"You weren't even listening to what I was saying?" May gasped, her eyes widening and giving her the impression of being on the verge of tears. "Not even a little bit?"

"You were singing a song, May," the brunet grumbled. "I was only listening enough to know when it was over."

"Well then this—_this_ is just unacceptable!" May exclaimed. "How can I make a man out of you if you don't listen to me? I mean, you lost so I decided to help you and…" She trailed off, noticing the way Gary's eyes darkened when she said the word "lost". She couldn't help but smile widely.

"Oh my Arceus—you're angry that you lost, aren't you?"

Gary's brow furrowed as he looked away. "Most people are when they lose, June."

"Are you angry at Red? Worried that now Leafy won't see you as a good fighter anymore?" May teased, poking his cheek. "As inferior?"

Gary gritted his teeth. "Since when did Leaf come into all this?"

"AHA! So you _do_ care about what she thinks!"

"I didn't even say anything—!"

"Just wait until I tell Leaf that widdle Gary has an inferiority complex!" she giggled gleefully. "You do have one, don't you?"

Gary's eyes widened. "N-no I don't," he stammered. "I…I mean…"

"You challenged Red because you wanted to prove yourself, right? But you lost, making yourself doubt your own abilities."

Gary's eyes met hers, startled by how spot-on she was. "How did you know…?"

She shrugged, a ghost of a smile on her lips. "I was watching you and Red talk after your battle. Did he say anything…I don't know, _criticizing_ to you or something?"

The brunet frowned, his eyes narrowing. "He said I lost because I let my emotions get the better of me—and what really irritates me is that he's _right._ _Absolutely, one hundred percent, right_." Gary's hands clenched into fist. "He said that partners protect each other, too, and that made me start thinking; if I can't control my emotions in a battle, then that means I might not be able to protect my partner—_Leaf_—and that just makes me feel worthless and insignificant and _weak_."

May frowned. "Well I have some advice for you, Gary."

Gary laughed, but it was bitter. He looked up…

"And what would that be—?"

…just in time to feel May's hand make contact with his cheek, _hard_.

His head snapped sideways as May growled, "Man up and quit pitying yourself, or else even Leaf's not going to want to be your partner anymore."

As Gary stood there, stunned as he slowly raised a hand to his stinging cheek, May turned on her heel and strode off.

* * *

Leaf and White exited the weapon building, still chatting.

White snorted. "Always looking for fights, those males. Why can't they just sit back and have a nice chat instead of challenging each other to a fight? See, _that's_ what started this whole damn war between the Resistance and Vesuvius. Men's 'manly pride' or whatever."

The two were discussing Gary and Red's battle (Leaf was still confused about _why_ Gary would even challenge Red) and somehow White had started ranting.

Leaf shrugged, only half-listening to White as she fiddled with the ring on her finger. It was the same one that was in the package Red had given her so long ago (the one with the weird "_La Reine anneau_" engraved on the box). Red had seen it poking out of her pocket earlier (she'd been carrying it around with her wherever she went for the past few days) back when they were still in the medical ward, and had suggested to Leaf that she wear it—which made Leaf very suspicious. She was going to have to ask Red about this ring later, but for now she was content to be able to wear the ring on her finger and admire its beauty.

"Boys will be boys, I guess," she replied. "And I'm pretty sure Vesuvius is at war with us because we're trying to dethrone him and possibly kill him, White. We have to defeat him so he can't cause harm to others—be it dragon or man."

"_I know that,_ but I still—oh, sorry!" she gasped as she accidentally bumped into someone. "I'm sorry; I wasn't watching where I was walking…"

"Ah, no, it was my fault," the man White bumped into replied in a humble tone. Leaf glanced at him, taking in his appearance.

He was tall—taller than Red, who had to be at least six feet—and although he had a hat pulled over his head, Leaf could see that his short hair and bangs were a peculiar mint green color and his eyes were a grayish-blue.

Touko smiled at the man, apparently recognizing him. "Hey, Harmonius," she greeted. "I don't think you've met my friend before."

Harmonius glanced at Leaf and smiled at her. "I don't think I have."

"Well then introductions are in order!" White said. "Harmonius, this is Leaf, and Leaf, this is Harmonius. Both of you are new to the base."

"It's a pleasure to meet you then, Miss Leaf," Harmonius said kindly, taking Leaf's hand and kissing the top of it. She was too busy trying not to blush or stammer in embarrassment to notice the way Harmonius's eyes flashed when he saw the ring on her finger or the way he stared at it just a second longer than necessary before he pulled away.

"Y-you too," she stuttered, not used to people doing things like kissing her hand.

Harmonius turned to White. "White, do you recall the other day when you promised me you would show me what the various jobs around the base are?" he asked her.

White thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I do." She turned to Leaf, an apologetic look on her face. "Sorry to cut our conversation short, but I did promise Harmonius I'd give him a more in-depth tour of the base and how it functions since he's still new here like you."

"It's fine. I really do need to go find my friends, so I probably wouldn't have been able to stay and chat with you for very long anyways," Leaf replied, smiling at the two.

White beamed in return. "See you around then, Leaf!" she said with a wave as she and Harmonius started walking off in the other direction.

Leaf returned the wave before continuing towards where she had last seen May and Gary; if they weren't there she'd just go back to Gary's hospital room and see if they were there.

Turns out she didn't even get halfway to where she left Gary and May before she spotted the former in the distance, walking towards her.

"Hey Gary," she greeted once they were in hearing distance of each other. He looked a bit distracted, as if he were lost in thought, and he kept rubbing his cheek like it stung, but when she said his name he seemed to snap out of his trance and looked up and met her gaze.

"Oh, hey," he muttered, sounding a lot more put out than he looked.

Leaf gave him a quizzical look, wondering why his attitude kept changing every time she saw him today. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You've been acting pretty weird lately."

Gary stared blankly at her and, after a moment, blinked, looking as if he had only just realized she asked him a question. "Oh…um, yeah. I'm fine. I've just been…thinking," he mumbled. "Can I…uh…ask you a question?"

Leaf raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure…?" she trailed off.

"If I pitied myself, would you—?" Leaf thought she saw a flash of black hair behind Gary and peered around him to get a better view.

"Hold that thought for a second." Leaf cut him off, holding a finger up to his lips to shush him. Just as she thought, the person in the distance _was_ Red—but he was walking in the opposite direction of Leaf and Gary and was talking to the person walking beside him, who was probably a council member.

She was really getting tired of not being able to talk to Red since he was always so busy, and she still had a ton of unanswered questions for him about herself and her past. Maybe she could stop him right before he went into a council meeting or wherever he was going and ask him a quick question to satisfy her curiosity.

Frowning, she excused herself from her conversation with Gary and started after Red before the brunet could say a word, but threw an apology over her shoulder as an afterthought as she ran after Red.

"Ah—Leaf, wait!" Gary called after her, but the girl was already too far away to be able to hear him. He let out a frustrated sigh, his eyes wandering over to the raven-haired man who was even farther away in the distance than Leaf was, and he couldn't help but to narrow his eyes.

He really hated that guy.

* * *

White was having fun traversing the base with Harmonius. He was surprisingly easy to strike up a conversation with as they walked around, White stopping to point out and explain a specific place every once in a while as they passed by it.

Of course, this wasn't the first time she'd hung out with the green-haired man, and he'd been here long enough to already get to know the base pretty well, but he seemed particularly interested in the council—as well as the way things worked around here and how the riders and their dragons associated with each other—and White knew he was a smart man and a good battler, so she didn't have any qualms about telling him about the council. (If he stayed here long enough he might even be accepted into it.)

On their way around the base they talked about random, pointless things until they got on the subject of Leaf.

"So," Harmonius began as they strolled through the camp at a comfortable place. "Your friend's name—the one we saw earlier—was Leaf, right?"

White nodded, kicking at the grass as she walked. "Mhm. She and two of her friends arrived here just about a week or so after you did. They were students at the Savoir Faire Academy hidden about a hundred miles north of here, but when it was attacked they escaped and fled here."

"…Ah, I see," he said after a pause, nodding thoughtfully.

A comfortable silence settled over them until White spoke.

"So, how do you like this base, anyways?" she asked, glancing over at her green-haired companion.

Harmonius allowed a brief smile to light up his face. "It's a new experience for me," he said. "Where I'm from, the bonds between riders and their dragons are nowhere near as strong as they are here. Every rider and their dragon that I've seen look so happy and joyous together like they treasure each other…"

White giggled slightly. "Well, most of us have known our dragons since we were little. We've grown up with them and we're so close to them that sometimes their friendship outranks our closest human friend."

"Ah…I wish I was that close with my dragon," Harmonius said quietly, smiling sadly as his eyes flickered to the ground. "You see, we haven't been together for long so we're not exactly close."

"But I've seen you fight with your dragon before and it's like you two have been battling together for years!" White argued, her brow furrowing.

Harmonius chuckled. "Well, appearances can be deceiving," he said.

"I guess." White shrugged nonchalantly. "How long do you think you're going to stay here?" she asked curiously.

His pace slowed before he came to a stop, and he tilted his head back to stare up into the sky, which was growing dark as the night chased off the last of the remaining daylight. "It depends. However long I want, I guess. To be honest I don't really want to leave this base."

"Oh really?" White hummed, stopping next to him. Noticing that it was growing dark, she turned to face Harmonius fully and tilted her head up to see his face since he was taller than her. "Well, it's getting late and tomorrow I'm going to have a full day of running around the base, so…" She paused when Harmonius's eyes met hers, causing her to look away bashfully. "…so I should probably get some sleep while I can."

"Of course," he said in a soft voice. "Well then, White…goodnight."

"Yeah, you too."

Neither of them moved for a moment, as if hoping the other would make the first move to leave. This happened every time the two parted ways, and every time White would secretly hope for him to give her a goodnight kiss—hey, he was a well-mannered and handsome guy, what could she say?—but the logical part of her mind told her she couldn't get distracted by a relationship when she had more important things to be focusing on, such as finding Touya.

After a moment, she turned and walked away.

* * *

oops I had way too much fun with this chapter and all of its character interactions :3

Reviews/favorites/follows are greatly appreciated but not required to read or enjoy this story. c: (AND WE HIT 300 REVIEWS AND 50 FOLLOWERS AND 50 FAVORITES GUYS JELAGBLKEABKBG WE LOVE YOU GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH :'D Consider an extra long 8,700+ word chapter your gift for being such great support and motivating me and Aph to write this story.)

-Aqua of the Starlight

(the lgs wasn't supposed to be this obvious this early on in the story but feels jeglkajebgrlkjae)


	21. Chapter 21

Leaf was absentmindedly trekking the worn dirt path one of the base members had directed her on when she asked for the way to Red's.

"It's that way. Just keep following the trail until you see a bunch of tents. He's got the bright red one," the middle-aged man had said with a muffled chortle at the last bit of information. Leaf had nodded in response and thanked him before turning to follow the path.

Some ten minutes later, she was still following that path but now, she was left wondering why on Earth one of so many paths through the base was so winding and and twisty and complicated. She was positive that at quite a few points, the path had done "U"s when it could've just gone straight. Really, who was the exterior designer here?

As she pondered that question, the section of tents she had seen some few minutes ago were rapidly growing closer with each step she took. Most of the tents weren't very large, and many were neutral colors—brown, black, even navy. Of course, that helped the lone red one (and a few neon greens) to stick out like a sore thumb, which made Leaf's venture a lot easier.

A minute or so later, Leaf was at the door flap of the red tent which was actually quite large up close and taller than she was. For a moment, she stood still, listening for sounds inside the tent that would suggest the presence of its owner.

An entire minute ticked by, and Leaf wondered what the passersby thought of a lone teenage brunette outside of the base's young, capable, idolized council member's tent.

_A groupie, maybe._

There was still nothing but silence emanating from the tent and frankly, there was something preventing her from having the guts to call out his name. (Maybe something about how chances were that he wasn't there anyways and calling out to empty air was slightly embarrassing and, though she didn't dare admit it, she had pride rivaling that of even Gary.)

With a sigh, she exasperatedly ran a hand through her hair. She pivoted a hundred degrees on her heel and was about to leave when a small chuckle ricocheted inside the tent.

"You can come in, Leaf," a voice said amusedly, unmistakably that of Red's.

A light blush crept up her neck (something about her pride _still _getting slightly dented) as she pushed aside the tent flap and held it to the side for a moment. "How did you know I was here?"

"I can see your shadow against the tent," he answered.

"And you just let me stand there for forever?"

He smiled slightly crookedly, which Leaf assumed to be his version of a smirk. The jerk, thought Leaf as she gingerly stepped into said jerk's abode.

For one of the most important people in the base, the interior of Red's tent certainly didn't reflect his status. It was smaller than it looked from the outside, and the only things it held were a makeshift bed, clothes, a few weapons, a candle holder, and Red himself who seemed to be carving arrows.

"You know, for a prince, you sure do live like a hobo," commented Leaf.

"A charming compliment, I'm sure."

"Of course, dear brother," she said with a wide grin, though the title rolling around in her mouth was still a foreign feeling. She stepped over to the bed which, upon closer inspection, was really a large stuffed sack draped with blankets and a pillow. "But really, this is..."

"Simple? Yeah, well. We're not exactly royalty anymore, might as well accept that and move on."

"But you're the big guy around here," protested Leaf as she plopped down on his bed. "You really don't get any special privileges?"

"I'd rather live without them," he said in an unreadable tone, causing Leaf to wonder if there was a deeper reason. "Besides, I don't think you came today to talk about my living arrangements. What's up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to tell you that thanks to your advice about that psychic girl, we're going to leave for Stonecrest tomorrow morning, bright and early."

"Are you sure?" said Red worriedly. "That's pretty sudden. You don't have to go so soon."

The corner of Leaf's lips pulled down, her expression growing pained. "No, we can't linger. Vesuvius has Drew and with every passing second, who knows what they're doing to him..."

"I understand," said Red quietly. He shook his head. "It's just a shame that we're separating so soon after so long. Anything I can help with before you leave?"

"Well, I _do _have a few questions."

"Let's hear 'em."

"What exactly is the deal with..." She lifted her hand and spread her fingers apart to emphasize the golden band around her finger, the white gem glinting with her movements. "This?"

"Ah, yeah, that. I was wondering when you were going to ask about it," he said, a small smile tugging at his mouth. "It's not the greatest story in the world, but about a year ago, I was on a mission to scope out Corona, the capital. The objectives were to get information about the inner workings of Vesuvius's system and talk to the citizens who aren't in the resistance without raising suspicions. See their point of view.

"You know how Vesuvius built a new castle after he took over? Because of that, the old palace is completely abandoned now. The night before I was going to come back, I went back to our palace. I guess I'm not really sure why—nostalgia, I guess? Obligated feelings? Anyways, there wasn't much security around the place, and there weren't even many townspeople around.

"I went in and kind of just walked around. There's not much left in it; I think most of the furniture and miscellaneous things were either taken by Vesuvius's guys or independent robbers." He grinned. "Luckily, none of them lived there as part of the royal family. There's a crypt underneath the palace—well, actually, there's two crypts. The first one is right below the first floor and it has the coffins of the previous kings and queens.

"The second one is underneath that one and even less people know about it. I guess not a lot of people expect two secret crypts, so the first one was kind of looted but the second one wasn't even touched. To be fair, it's also a lot harder to get into—you know, I'll show you sometime if we're ever in Corona someday. And the security is good, because that's where we happened to put all the valuable stuff. The very best of the Adair line's weapons, books, jewelry...so, I decided to take a few mementoes, and save the others for a rainy day.

"A few months ago, your headmaster sent me a message saying that one of Vesuvius's messengers had arrived and threatened the academy. So...the day of the attack, he sent you, Gary, May, and Drew out here to Silverhaven. He knew the trip would take a while, and hopefully, it would make you guys miss the entire battle, saving you. Getting the package was just an excuse, but he knows about you and I was fine with passing along the ring to you."

Leaf was in shock. The new information about Dippet having purposefully sent them away that fateful day was groundbreaking and she couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"What...? What was the point of that?" she whispered brokenly, thinking back to the battle and the fighting and the dying and feeling herself on the verge of tears. "Why would he save _us_? What about all the little kids, or the ones who weren't as good in fighting, or—"

"Hear me out, Leaf," said Red softly. "He knew about the attack, but he didn't know when it was going to be and telling the student body would've just raised panic. It would've been impossible to evacuate the entire school all at once because so many dragons and students would've just been too conspicuous. There would've been nowhere for them to go, anyways. The closest other bases would've been too overcrowded and so many extra people would've raised suspicions.

"_But_, before you go calling the guy out about his morals, he _did _evacuate most of the younger students. The ones you saw left at the battlefield that day were the ones who chose to stay behind and fight, the ones who had nothing left to lose even at such a young age. He didn't evacuate any of the older students because Vesuvius would've taken them. The most capable fighters in the entire school...how could he refuse? And he doesn't. Dippet knew that Vesuvius wouldn't kill them, and he believed that they'll all be rescued at some point, before or after this is all over. He tried to save you and the others because you're the princess, Leaf. Because you and Gary are two of the best fighters in the entire school, and May and Drew are your closest friends. He understands that, and he believes that you guys will do great things over the course of this war. Maybe even end it."

Leaf looked down at the ring on her finger again, examining the plain golden body that whispered of simple innocence. Her mind still wasn't comprehending this new situation, and to attempt to move on because the topic hurt to much to dwell on, she whispered, "So then...this ring is just a ring? It was just supposed to be a decoy for us?"

"Well, I guess not," said Red with a humorless chuckle. "Do you see the words engraved on it?"

"'_La Reine anneau_'?"

"Do you know what it means?"

"No."

"Literally, it means 'The Queen ring'. It's a pair along with another one, _Le Roi anneau_—The King ring. They were passed down every generation all the way from the very first Adair rulers, all the way to us. The crowns every king and queen wore were really just for the public; the real artifacts that the royal family actually treasured were the rings. Every king and queen only ever had one kid, male or female. That way, once that prince or princess rose to the throne and married, they'd only need two rings and there would be nobody to leave out. But, well...you were kind of an accident." He laughed and Leaf stared blankly at him. "So in a really insignificant way, our family being dethroned was actually kind of a good thing."

"Then where's the other ring?" asked Leaf, choosing to ignore his last two statements because quite honestly, she had nothing to say to that.

Red smiled and reached inside his shirt to pull out a silver chain with a gold ring identical to Leaf's looped on it. The white gem shimmered playfully as it was brought out, as if it was purposefully trying to catch and reflect as much light as it could since it rarely ever saw the light of day. Leaf leaned in for a closer look, and sure enough, she saw the words "Le Roi anneau" emblazoned on it.

"So...mom wore this ring," said Leaf slowly, trying to wrap her head around it. Frankly, she had difficulty wrapping her head around the fact that she even had a mother and father with names let alone such a status, and that she hasn't just dropped out of the sky into Savoir Faire one day. The fact that her finger was touching something her mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on and so forth was incredibly meaningful and dreamlike in its own way.

"And dad wore this one," said Red, watching her carefully. Then he split into another grin. "But, you know, it's not all about looking pretty and touching what our great-great-grandmother touched."

Leaf furrowed her brow. "How do you mean?"

"They're magical. Quite frankly, nobody in our family's been able to figure these rings out completely, because the gem is a solidified form of a really, really rare essence. Plus it's connected to strands of dragon heartstring in the bands, which makes the magic completely unpredictable. All Father told me was that they're kind of like those mood rings they sell at bazaars. It seems like the magic depends on your 'element', and the power on both what emotion you're feeling and how strongly you're feeling it. I have a theory that the element is the same as what your dragon turns after you bond with it, since dragons do get their elements from their riders."

"So...what kind of magic is it?" asked Leaf dumbly, still slightly mystified. "What happens if _you_ use it?"

"It turns up as fire magic for me," said Red, taking the ring necklace off. "Is it a coincidence since Cep is a fire type dragon? Beats me. The truth is that Father and I are the only ones who have ever been able to use these rings for their magical powers, but others have tried. That leads me to think that maybe these rings can only be work if there's magic it can reflect or draw from us, since they never responded to our ancestors who never bonded to any dragons and therefore lacked...a presence of magic, you know?"

The entire time Red had been talking, he had also been staring at the ring which he had cushioned between his thumb and index finger. Now, he slipped the ring onto his middle finger.

"I'm not really feeling anything special right now," he said thoughtfully. "Content, sure. Happy and still slightly surprised that my little sister is sitting right in front of me, but not as overjoyed as I was when I saw you the first time on Dippet's mission. I think, at a moment like this..."

Leaf watched as he narrowed his eyes and clearly began concentrating. Red's fist was held out in front of him, and it was clenched so hard that his knuckles were pale in comparison to the rest of his hand. Several moments passed before something finally happened—Red flipped his hand so that the side with his palm with facing upwards. His facial expression relaxed as, slowly, he unfurled his fist to release a slow flicker of yellow and crimson flames; Leaf couldn't tell if they were from his palm or the ring. As the small bout of fire continually licked at the air, it also grew smaller and smaller before disappearing altogether.

"_Wow_," breathed Leaf, staring doe-eyed at where the fire had disappeared into nothing, exhilaration and childlike curiosity coursing through her. "A human...using _magic._"

"Not really," chuckled Red. "It's like any other magical weapon, I guess, only it's completely unpredictable and we don't know much about it, despite it being the pride of the entire Adair line. Go figure, huh?"

"What does it do if you're feeling a stronger emotion? Like, anger or grief or something?"

'I don't know," said Red truthfully. "I haven't used it while feeling like that—or, I guess, I haven't _been _angry or grieving. Yesterday was the most riled up I've gotten in a while, thanks to Gary."

Leaf immediately cringed at the mention of her idiotic partner and yesterday's events. "I'm sosorry about that, Red, I really am—"

"Don't sweat it, you already apologized yesterday and it wasn't even your fault," said Red with a dismissive wave of his hand. As he pulled the ring off of his finger and put the chain back around his neck, he said with a wide grin, "Besides, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Fact is that was just a thing between men that was going to happen one way or another."

"'A thing between men'?" repeated Leaf in disbelief and following it up with a snort of derision. "More like you're you and he's a prepubescent b—"

"Leaf," cut in a third voice curtly from the tent entrance, and both siblings immediately swiveled their heads to look at the source.

Leaf's mouth fell open slightly upon recognition of the newcomer, who was holding up a tent flap to the side. His body was completely tense and he looked so expressionless that, quite frankly, Leaf would've felt less intimidated if his eyes were narrowed into slits and his nose was flared and he was cursing her in shouts.

"We're going to town to stock up," he continued flatly.

Terrifying.

"G-Gary," stammered Leaf, hurriedly rising and bearing no doubt in her mind that he heard the last few lines of their conversation. "Um...with May?"

"She's been waiting for me to find you."

On second thought, why was she stuttering and tip-toeing around him right now? Sure, he had caught her in the middle of insulting him and now he was doing something worse than getting mad at her for it and sure, anything involving Red apparently needed careful treading but they'd done so much worse to each other in the past. What was the difference now?

Suddenly feeling ten times bolder, Leaf turned to Red. "Do you want to come with us? You know, if you're not busy or anything, which you might be, I mean, but it'd be nice if you could just..."

With a quick glance between Leaf and the brunet at the entrance, Red nodded slowly. "Yeah, my day's pretty open today and I've been meaning to pick some things up."

"That's great!" gushed Leaf, ignoring Gary's brisk turn and leave which involved the tent flap unfurling with a smacking sound against the other one.

"Right," said Red with a chuckle that slightly confused Leaf, but she didn't think much of it. "Let's go."

* * *

Arceus, it was pretty and it was definitely debatable as to whether or not it was the single prettiest thing she had ever seen in her entire life. Leaf was pretty sure she fell in love right then and there because really, which girl in her right mind could resist the intricate contours, the flawless emerald finishes, the way it would no doubt fit _perfectly _on her finger like it was made for her and the voices of a cappella angels were emanating from it, calling out to her—

"You know, if you really want it, I can buy it for you," said Red bemusedly but with a tinge of exasperation, snapping her out of her reverie.

"No," said Leaf automatically, her eyes widened as she snapped her head to look at Red so fast she almost got whiplash. "No, no, no, no, no. It'll cost more than my arm and leg is worth! Plus, I...already have something pretty and probably just as valuable..." she trailed off, looking up at Red to see whether or not he caught her gist.

He simply chuckled and held up his arms in surrender. "Alright, alright, so maybe I'm not allowed to spoil you. Hey, then again, for all I know, you've already got someone like that to buy expensive things for you."

"No, no, no," protested Leaf, carefully setting the ring back down into its silk and velvet exhibition, much to the apparent disappointment of the merchant. With one more forlorn look at the jewelry, she wrenched her gaze away and pointedly avoided looking back at it as she began walking again, Red trailing slightly behind her. "There's definitely no one."

"I don't know, Leaf," mused May teasingly as she walked beside her. "You might want to ask Fire that before making any quick assumptions," she continued, resulting in a playful shove from Leaf and a carefree laugh from Red, effectively rendering all three unaware of a certain brunet who lingered behind, his hands in his pockets and his eyes caught by something.

Some twenty minutes later, the group had water pouches and clothes crossed off their list. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, though Leaf swore several times that she'd seen a small gray or silver thing dart around occasionally, and always in somewhat close proximity to them. As they wandered aimlessly searching for the next item—dehydrated food—Leaf was suddenly aware of a low mumble in her mind that, she realized with a start, was actually _words._

"_Polishing oil...ger and bow..."_

"Hey, um," began Leaf tentatively, all three of her companions within hearing range but directing her words to no particular person, "Let's say that, hypothetically, a random, ordinary girl starts hearing things in her head one day, and it's all English and words and ideas, but the sentences are kind of broken and they're kind of hard to hear and it only happens sometimes and it kind of just sounds like a voice but it's not theirs..."

"Eh...she's going insane?" suggested May, prompting a barely noticeable frown from Leaf. "Is this a trick question?"

"It's her time of the month?" said Gary sardonically, to which Leaf outright scowled.

"Red?" said Leaf hopefully, praying that seeing as the guy seemed to know just about everything there was to know about, well, her, that he'd know just one more tidbit.

"Well..." said Red slowly, and maybe it was just her imagination, but Leaf swore he was trying not to smile. "I can think of a few reasons. One, she's gone insane. Two—less likely but then again, I'm not a girl so I don't know the full ins and outs—it's that time of the lunar cycle. Three...they've become bonded with someone."

"Elaborate," said Leaf, hoping it didn't come out as more of a plea instead.

"Well, there's a certain type of bond you can create with someone that you get really close to before or after you bond. If it's before, then you can hear their thoughts and they can hear yours from the moment you're bonded. If it's after, well, then in the same way, the moment your relationship deepens enough, the bond just solidifies automatically and you're carried to a new level of understanding one another."

With each word, Leaf felt herself go a fraction of a shade paler. That could all be applied to her relationship and bond with Gary, couldn't it? _Arceus, no..._

"But since the hypothetical girl is only hearing bits and pieces, then that suggests that she doesn't know who she's bonded to."

Leaf's brain shut down. _Wait, what_?

"If every single bit of information about the bond and the other person was absolutely crystal to her and their relationship is close enough, then absolutely, they'd be able to hear each others' thoughts. If there's a missing piece, though—and there's a surprising number of situations that could explain that—the link would be broken. The telepathy would be in pieces."

"It's me," said Leaf quickly and desperately, abruptly turning to Red with terrified eyes. She could practically feel the stares from May and Gary drilling shocked holes into her shoulder and backside, but she continued babbling, "_I'm _the hypothetical girl, Red. I am. I..."

"I know," said Red swiftly, his face the epitome of ease. "I'm the one you're bonded to."

Suddenly, they were a scene frozen in time amidst the rest of the bustling street and nearby shops. Red paused his easygoing demeanor to peer down at Leaf, waiting for a response to gauge. Leaf, on the other hand, stared up blankly at him with a slack mouth and providing no evidence that she would give him a response to gauge anytime soon. May wore an expression of shock and confusion as she stared at Red, her boot frozen in mid-air. Gary, after Red's last sentence, flickered his eyes back to Leaf, watching her with his jaw clenched, his eyes hard, and his hands balled inside his pants pockets. Most passersby walked around them with only a small curious glance; others (oftentimes elderly) muttered loudly with a blatant scowl about the incompetence of roadblocking youngsters nowadays.

Suddenly, it clicked for Leaf. How the voice in her head had been playing battle commands during Red and Gary's fight. How she only ever heard it when she was around Red. How, as siblings, they must have been close enough before they separated for the bond to take on telepathy...

_You're right_, rang a voice smoothly and clearly in her head, but it wasn't Lithium even though the presence felt similar to hers. The voice was lower and unmistakably that of Red's. The mute shock rippling through her must have transferred to Red either through the bond or the wideness of her eyes because he explained, _Now that you're fully aware about the bond and me, you can hear me without a problem._

_ How...? When? _was all Leaf was able to get out, even mentally. She was vaguely aware of how suspicious and/or ridiculous they must have seemed, staring unblinkingly at each other.

_When rumors about Vesuvius got too loud to ignore, our parents became worried and had us go through a ritual to create a bond. The main purpose was so we could know if the other was alive, where they were, how they felt. The telepathy gets weaker the further we are from each other, but we can always feel each others' presence. _He paused. _The night the palace was attacked during our escape, we decided that we would erase your memory for your own good, right? Your knowledge of my existence disappeared, but the magic of the bond wasn't erased. It got pushed to a corner of your brain and it would reactivate if you knew about it and me again._

Leaf was speechless, although with the number of mind boggling revelations she'd had lately, she vaguely wondered if she was supposed to be used to this kind of thing already. Red continued to stare expectantly at her, waiting for a response.

"I bet they're talking through their bond," she vaguely heard May whisper, presumably to Gary. "That's incredible."

Leaf hadn't thought she needed to dote on Gary's lack of a response to that (especially since she couldn't formulate many responses herself at this point) but in retrospect, perhaps she should've because it was then that she suddenly felt a tight grip on her arm. Then, her view was being wrenched away from Red and she was forced to somehow follow along Gary's hasty pace while being dragged more or less like a rag doll to Arceus knows where.

Meanwhile, May and Red had stared for several seconds before May finally gathered herself and moved to chase after them, but just like the time Leaf was about to fall, Red held her back with his arm. Mystified, May looked up at the man, who only responded like he had last time with a small smile and a quick wink.

The brunette glanced after her two friends one more time before looking back at Red confusedly. "Who _are_ you?"

He chuckled and looked in the direction in which Leaf and Gary had disappeared. "I'm sure you'll find out soon."

* * *

Considering that she hadn't hardly recovered from the first shock when the second one was thrown at her, it took Leaf a while to regain bearing of her surroundings. Thus, before she knew it, they were in what seemed to be a deserted, narrow alley behind the stores of the main street. Gary tugged her all the way to the middle of the alleyway, ignoring her struggling and squirming. It was there that he finally released her, though the brief moment of freedom didn't help Leaf's cause much as she was imprisoned again a second later, this time with her back against a building and both of his arms pressed against the wall beside her ear.

Gary Oak was _livid_ right now, and quite frankly, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. His eyes were narrowed and boring into hers, his jaw was tight, his face was slightly red, his hair was a mess, a few small patches of skin on his face shimmered from sweat, and his chest was heaving just as much as hers. Above all that, there was something different about him though he was definitely too close for comfort for her to look any closer. Also, Leaf was pretty sure her personal bubble extended farther than six inches...didn't it?

"What the hell is your problem, Oak?" she shouted, imagining that her eyes were quite narrowed and glaring and that her jaw was rather tight and her face was red and her hair was a nest and she had patches of sweat on her face too.

Ignoring her, he asked in a low growl, "Do you know why my eyes change colors?" which Leaf personally thought was a question completely unrelated to anything. Still, it prompted her to look at his eyes closer, if only for a brief moment. It came as a surprise when she realized that his eyes were a dark gray at the moment, and she faltered for a moment because, to her recollection, they had almost always been green.

Still, she recovered with, "And how am I supposed to know everything about you, you arrogant, douchey—"

"There's only two reasons my eyes would change color," he interrupted her, though still in the same low, dangerous tone as before. He leaned into her before he continued, and he was suddenly so close that when he spoke again, his breath was more than close enough to brush her ear. "_One_...I'm turned on."

Leaf flinched. The implications of that line with this situation were already more than enough, but saying that so close to her was nothing more than overkill. She suddenly wanted to make a bolt for it, but something—maybe intimidation—rooted her to the spot.

"Two...I'm really _pissed off._"

"And why would you be either of those two right now?" she breathed, finding her voice again but not daring to meet his gaze.

She couldn't see him, but knowing Gary, he definitely sneered. "Take a wild guess, genius."

So, logically, Leaf thought back to the moments before she was unceremoniously dragged away. Something must have happened that triggered Gary's switch, right?

"Red?" she asked hesitantly. Sure, there was some kind of bad blood between the two but she'd thought that maybe they'd vented out all their frustrations during their fight.

"_And_?"

"Um..." said Leaf, unsure of where to go now that she was clearly treading on dangerous waters. "He's turning you on and you're ticked about that?"

A quiet, frustrated growl ripped from Gary's throat. He pulled back so that he was eye level with her again and glared at her. "Try again."

Leaf swallowed, the intensity of his gaze incredible. In fact, she would've shied away if it was anyone other than him. "You...you're mad that I'm bonded to Red?"

"_And_?"

"I...keep ditching you and May to try to talk to him?" she attempted feebly. Ugh, what was wrong with her? Why was his intimidation plan actually working? For Arceus's sake, it was just _Gary_, and just because there was something powerful and mildly breathtaking about him when he was as enraged as he was right now didn't mean—

"_Damn straight_," he hissed.

"Gary, come on, you don't get it—" she tried to say, but she abruptly cut herself off when a silver blur leapt off her shoulder and darted in front of her line of vision, effectively causing Gary to back off a few steps in shock. The silver blur flicked to the ground and hissed menacingly at Gary, and it was suddenly quite obvious what or who it was. A wave of surprise rode over Leaf, but then she vaguely wondered if he had jumped between them so quickly because he had thought her to be in danger.

"Tch, what's with this thing?" grumbled Gary, lifting his calf backwards as if he were about to kick something.

"Don't you darehurt Lazare!" screamed Leaf. Her words seemed to have an effect on the brunet as he slowly replaced his foot onto the ground, but his expression was, if possible, even more irritated than before.

"Why are you_, _of all people, protective of that thing?" he bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger at the small dragon to emphasize his point. "It's that Red guy's dragon!"

"No, you idiot, he's only been with Red because Red's taking care of him!" retorted Leaf before she had a chance to properly think. "He was supposed to be _my _dragon!"

For the first time during the entire encounter, a chink appeared in Gary's steadfast armor of fury. His expression morphed into blankness and the Gary Oak Train of Indignation seemed to screech to a sudden halt.

"Wait...what?"

"Lazare was supposed to be my dragon, and he's been in Red's care all this time because _Red is my brother_!" she plowed on, still in a rage from the brunet's behavior and with some part of her mind apparently having decided that it was "Get All of Your Secrets Out Now Before the Minute's Over" time. "And he's been telling me things about myself in the little free time that he has so excuse me for trying to find out who I am!"

"Your...brother...?" muttered Gary dazedly, holding his head as if this new bit of information was a headache that would go away if he treated it as such. "But if he didn't go to Savoir Faire...and if that thing—"

"_Lazare_," corrected Leaf cattily.

"—Was supposed to be your dragon before even Lithium...and it was almost impossible for a kid to have a dragon before the rebellion..."

Leaf said nothing, only stood in silence as the full weight of her words finally came crashing down on her. Gary was figuring out every secret that Red had told her not to tell anyone (if she hadn't already exploded it to him) and with every passing second, the full messy, horrifying potential disaster took more and more shape in her mind. Her throat turned dry; her hands became clammy; her heartbeat took off.

She could practically see the cogs turning in Gary's mind. She could practically see every loophole becoming larger in his mind until each was big enough to serve as her metaphorical noose. All the while, he stared at her. It wasn't like before when his eyes were filled with wrath and enmity. Now, it was just...bewilderment and traces of boyish curiosity. And then out of his lips came the dreaded question.

"Leaf, what..._who _are you?"

She paused. Was there any way to get out of this now? It was clear by the way he was looking at her that he already had her cornered in his mind, and maybe trying to wriggle out of this by now was simply a fool's dream anyways. Besides, she and the boy were _partners. _Red couldn't have expected her to keep all this from Gary forever...she hoped.

"The first day we got here, Red told me..." This was it, the point of no return. "...that my real name is Leanne Etienne Adair."

"Hold...hold on..."

"And that his full name is Ravlen Greaux Adair."

Gary's brow furrowed. "But that's...impossible. Those are the names of the late prince and princess."

"It was never officially confirmed that they were dead, Gary. Just missing," said Leaf flatly.

"Everyone either thought they died at the palace massacre or escaped and were hidden away..." said Gary, his voice beginning to quicken.

It's clear that he's in denial, thought Leaf as she pressed her lips together into a thin line. After all, it wasn't exactly as if she had embraced the information with open arms as well. "...At rebel bases and the academy," she said to help coax him along.

Gary's eyes widened to the point that it would've been comical had they just grown a little more, though even then, Leaf doubted she would've laughed. His body froze as his mouth fell slack, allowing him to get out a tiny, simple, "You..."

With a short, humorless chuckle, Leaf shook her head. "It's okay. I couldn't believe it either. You don't have to believe me, it's just...I wouldn't have wanted to lie to you, that's all."

And with that, she ducked her head and began to head back to where they came from, though the journey happened to involve passing by Gary as well. She heard the soft pit-pat of Lazare's footsteps, and she smiled to see the small dragon trailing after her dutifully, especially since she had almost forgotten about it during the rest of her and Gary's exchange. A few steps later, she was almost past Gary, but there was an unexpected pressure on her shirt that caused her to stop. They were still facing opposite directions, but it wasn't hard to realize that Gary was the one grabbing ahold of her shirt. He was pointedly avoiding looking at her with face still contorted in consternation while Leaf, on the other hand, was watching him attentively. Several long moments passed, resulting in Lazare looking up at the two inquisitively.

Then, without ever lifting his gaze from the ground, four words trickled out of his mouth that made Leaf's heart swell more than she ever thought it could from something Gary Oak said.

"I believe you..." he said softly, slowly, enunciating each syllable as if this was the first, last, and only chance he would ever have to tell her this. "...Princess."

* * *

"Thank you again, White," said Harmonius softly, a small smile straining at his thin lips.

"For what?" laughed the girl buoyantly, though she had a pretty good idea what.

"For giving me one of the best battles I've had in a long time," he said as if it was one of the most obvious things in the entire world.

"You're too modest. You knew you were going to beat me three seconds in."

"I believe the only modest one here is you," returned Harmonius swiftly.

"A lie," said White with a light snort. "But seriously, Harmonius, your dragon really is something. I can't believe you've only been together for, what, a year?"

"Give or take," said Harmonius quietly.

"I've been with Titaia longer than that and all we did was try to put up a fight," she said dejectedly, shaking her head. "Oh well, I guess some people are just natural battlers."

"Well, I'm not the first Rider my dragon has had," confessed Harmonius. "I took over when his previous Rider became...unable to ride."

"I see," said White, her tone taking on a bit of sadness. "What happened to them?"

"He was hurt in a fight," he said slowly, carefully, "and sustained brain damage afterwards. Their bond was destroyed as well."

"That's terrible," mumbled White genuinely. _I wouldn't know what to do if that happened to us, Titaia._

_It won't_, soothed her dragon. White felt the satisfaction of her dragon as she stretched out lazily. _Although..._her dragon began at the same time Harmonius said, "Well, I should be going."

"Oh, of course," said White hastily, choosing to focus on her conversation with Hatmonius first and letting Titaia know that. Her dragon quickly fell silent. "Thank you for the battle."

"It was my pleasure," he said, his relaxed and easygoing demeanor returning. Then, before White had a chance to react, he was leaning in, in, in and there was suddenly a touch like feathers on the middle of her forehead and then he was straightened up again with the sweetest, kindest smile on his face and then his back was facing her and then he was walking away, leaving her there stewing in a mixture of Arceus-knew-what-she-was-feeling as she watched him go.

_As I was saying_, said Titaia authoritatively, though once White jerked herself back from her daze, she wondered about the traces of amusement in her dragon's tone. _It was interesting to find that the color of that man's dragon was very..._

_Similar to Tarit, _finished White sadly, remembering the black dragon that belonged—_belongs_, she corrected herself firmly—to Touya. _You're right. _She sighed. _Arceus, I miss them..._

_And his eyes, _continued Titaia woefully. _They reminded me of Tarit's, though different._

_You two weren't_ fully_ grown yet when we were attacked. I wonder if Tarit looks different now..._

_I want to find them, _said the white dragon morosely.

_I do, too, which is why there's something I've been thinking about. The only way we're going to find them is to leave this base. We can't stay here forever if we want to find our yin, yeah?_

_What are you suggesting?_

White smiled, hoping the gesture reached Titaia through their bond. _Let's go find the Tac to your Tic with some people who are just as ridiculous as your nicknames._

* * *

let it be known that Leaf was going to call Gary a prepubescent _boy_, not a prepubescent female dog (unless you'd prefer the latter, in which case by all means feel free to assume that)

as always, thanks for reading!

-Apheleia


End file.
